"We need to" - Huddersfield Town urged to take Matty Pearson action | OneFootball

FLW's Huddersfield Town fan pundit discussed Matty Pearson's future with the club

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been a bitterly disappointing return to League One for Huddersfield Town, who have fallen short of challenging for automatic promotion and may well find themselves spending a second successive season in the third-tier as their play-off ambitions continue to fade.

Town have been unable to get going under interim boss Jonathan Worthington following the sacking of Michael Duff.

Worthington's first game in charge produced an emphatic 5-1 thrashing of Crawley Town at home, but subsequent defeats to Charlton Athletic and Lincoln City have left Huddersfield two points shy of sixth-placed Bolton Wanderers in eighth and in largely miserable form, having lost four of their last five fixtures.

Despite initially handing the job to Worthington until the end of the season, Huddersfield have seemingly had a change of heart and are now reportedly considering the likes of Paul Warne and Brian Barry-Murphy as permanent successors to Duff before the campaign is up in a bid to save their ever-dwindling hopes of returning to the Championship at the very first time of asking.

It's not yet clear what division Huddersfield will be playing their football in come August, and the outcome of their promotion bid could just dictate Matthew Pearson's future with the club as he approaches the end of his current contract.

Huddersfield Town told to keep Matthew Pearson on as a squad player next season

Pearson, who has clocked up just shy of 130 appearances in four years after joining from Luton Town in the summer of 2021, is set to be out of contract once the season is up.

The 31-year-old defender has scored five times from 22 League One appearances this term, with his aerial threat handing Town a familiar outlet. He's well-liked by the Terriers faithful but may have to settle for a lesser role in the side next time out.

FLW asked our Town fan pundit, Graeme Rayner, whether he believes Pearson should be handed a new contract or if the Terriers' backline needs freshening up.

Graeme believes a new contract should be in order if the club stays in League One, but that Pearson should be pushed back into the role of a squad player as opposed to remaining a regular starter.

"I would say he has served the club very, very well, if we are in League One next season he may be worth offering a new deal to keep some degree of continuity," Graeme told FLW.

"He's one of the few players who never seems to down tools.

"But what I would say is that I would expect, if we are in League One and he is still here, that he would be more of a squad player instead of a guaranteed starter.

"We need to bring in someone else to be playing in that role as a first-choice, so I think he would be a squad player if we keep him.

Huddersfield Town's remaining League One matches

Huddersfield will be desperate to dust themselves down from two successive defeats and return to winning ways at home to mid-table Mansfield Town on Saturday afternoon ahead of what is, on paper at least, an appealing end-of-season run-in.

Town may have their work cut out next week against third-placed Wycombe Wanderers, but could well end up facing the Chairboys in the play-offs and will therefore be eager to make a statement of intent.

After the visit of Wycombe, Huddersfield will face two of the current bottom-four in Burton Albion and Cambridge United, two encounters which ought to return maximum points.

Then, it's a daunting trip to fifth-placed Stockport County, who are all-but-guaranteed to finish inside the top-six, before rounding off the regular season against Exeter City and Leyton Orient, a direct competitor for the final up-for-grabs play-off spot.

"Whether he would want to stay on that basis I don't know, but he's been one of the few players who seems to have played with the right attitude most consistently."