The Huddersfield Town issue Lee Grant must sort ASAP - Steven Schumacher’s Bolton can relate | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers have both struggled away from home this season, but the pressure is more on Lee Grant to turn it around

More so than ever, strong away form is the key to mounting a promotion charge in League One, as seen with the four sides with the best record on their travels sitting in the top five in the division.

On the periphery of making a real run in the top two are Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers, two sides many expected to be battling in and around there, and based on home form, you'd be led to believe that is the case.

Steven Schumacher's side have the best home record in the division, winning six and losing none of their nine games at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, conceding just four goals along the way.

Four points behind that, sitting in sixth, are Huddersfield. Lee Grant's side have won five and drawn two of their nine games at the Accu Stadium.

Despite this, though, both sides haven't been able to pull themselves near the top two due, in part, to some dire away from, and pressure may be mounting on Lee Grant especially to rectify that soon.

Bolton's away record is actually worse than Huddersfield's — ironically enough, their sole win on their travels came in West Yorkshire in October — but the expectations at the Accu Stadium are arguably greater, and if Grant is to get the fans back onside, it's the away form his side needs to fix.

Lee Grant's quick fix at Huddersfield Town — a strong away run will help ease pressure

Huddersfield's away record is actually in the top half of League One teams, but that's more an attribute to how competitive the division is.

For a squad with the on-paper firepower that Lee Grant has at his disposal, they should be able to walk all over a lot of the other sides in the division, but the reality is that they're struggling.

The Terriers have won three but lost six of their nine games away from the Accu Stadium this season.

Those wins came against an underperforming Reading side in the second game of the campaign, Exeter City, who many expect to struggle, and Mansfield Town, a few weeks ago, which, credit where due, Lee Grant's side were electric in the opening half hour, racing out to a three-goal deficit.

Many felt that the Mansfield game would be a big result and a turnaround for Grant and Huddersfield, but since then, in league action, Luton Town and Cardiff City have soundly beaten them on their travels, and they had to come from behind three times to preserve a point at home to AFC Wimbledon.

The fact that the Terriers are still eighth, two points off the top six, yet there are calls for Grant to be sacked by some fans, shows how much expectation there is on the former Ipswich Town coach to succeed, and eight defeats in 18 games don't spell success.

At home, Huddersfield look solid. They're exciting going forward, and if it wasn't for a capitulation against Bolton, they'd have an even better record at the Accu Stadium.

Ensuring that some of these defeats away from home turn into draws and more wins will be key to keeping Grant in a job throughout the remainder of the season, and to ensure that they are in the promotion conversations come May.

Bolton Wanderers' away record needs rectifying too — but Steven Schumacher isn't under as much pressure to fix that

Huddersfield may be above Bolton in the away table in League One this season, but the key thing that stands out is that the Trotters haven't been losing too many games away from home.

The Trotters have lost just three times on their travels this season, the same as Stevenage, who have the fourth-best away record. Steven Schumacher's side just aren't winning; their four draws are the second most away from home this season.

More often than not, Bolton come away from an away game with at least a point, and while there will be demands for the ones to turn to threes in terms of how many points, having an unbeaten home record helps keep judgmental fans happy, and keeps the team in the top six.

So, a mixture of draws over defeats away from home and lofty expectations of Huddersfield to succeed that may not exist to the same extent at Bolton, means that Lee Grant is under a little more expectation to rectify away form.

Both sides have a couple of away trips left in 2025, and they'll be hoping they can pick up as close to maximum points as possible to go into 2026 on a positive note.