Huddersfield Town midfielder Joe Hodge admits it’s “great to be back” after making his return from a groin injury. The Wolves loanee was sidelined for almost three months of the campaign with the setback, with the 22-year-old sustaining the injury in the 2-0 victory against Barnsley in League One on October 5.

Hodge made his return as a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Burton Albion, and the midfielder spoke of his eagerness to get back playing during his time on the sidelines.

“It was great to be back, it’s been too long now since I last played, so I’m happy to be back out there,” Hodge told HTTV following Sunday’s draw. “I’ve been desperate to get back. You can ask the physios, I’ve been asking them every day when I can be back out there. They’ve been great with me helping me get back to where I want to be, so it’s great to be back out there today.”

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Hodge returned with his side in a difficult position, as they trailed the bottom-of-the-table Brewers heading into the closing stages at the John Smith’s Stadium. Michal Helik salvaged a late draw for the Terriers, but Hodge expressed his frustration that Town were unable to take all three points from the contest.

Discussing his appearance from the bench, the midfielder added: “I would’ve rather have come on at 4-0 up, but I felt good out there, I felt fit. Hopefully I managed to make a bit of an impact, I would’ve liked it to be more so we could’ve grabbed the winner, but it wasn’t to be today.

“We had enough chances to win the game. I’m just thinking in injury-time, we must’ve had four or five, we should’ve taken them and we didn’t, that’s why it feels like two points dropped rather than a point gained. We’ll take a point and keep the unbeaten streak going.

“I think when you look at the performance, maybe we could’ve performed better today. With the amount of chances we had, I think it was always a game we should’ve come away with three points from, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. We didn’t, and we’ll be looking to take all three points on Wednesday.”

Despite the disappointment of the draw, Hodge believes that the late equaliser shows an improvement in his side’s mentality from the start of the season, but the midfielder also recognised that there is work still to do on that front.

“If we look at the run we had at the start of the season, we probably lose games similar to this,” the Wolves loanee said. “It wasn’t ideal today, we should’ve won the game, but a point is probably more than we would’ve taken a few months ago.

“I think that’s from the mentality, but the mentality needs to be ‘we need to be winning these games’, not taking a point. We’re working on it, and I think you can see we’re improving in that definitely.”

The fourth-placed Terriers will look to bounce back on Wednesday afternoon, as they take on Wigan Athletic at the Brick Community Stadium in their first match of 2025. The Latics sit 16th in League One, and head into the New Year's Day contest off the back of a 2-1 loss at Wrexham, where they conceded in injury-time to suffer a defeat.

Looking ahead to the encounter, Hodge said: “We don’t have time to dwell on it or cry about what’s gone on today, we just have to get on with it. In two days, we’ll be playing another tough game, all the games are tough.

“You saw that today, Burton are bottom of the league but made it difficult for us, and Wigan’s going to be another tough game, but we’ve got more than enough to go and win.”