Xisco Muñoz has said several times he wants his team to “fight like animals” and Tom Cleverley certainly heeded the words of his Head Coach.

The energetic midfielder showed the courage of a lion, the wiliness of an old fox and the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse to chase down a backpass, capitalise on hesitation from keeper Ryan Schofield and slide tackle the ball into the net. It was typical Cleverley, so reflective of a top pro who is so desperate to drive this team back to the promised land of the Premier League.

It was just the break his team needed on 54 minutes after they had somewhat laboured through the first half. The goal showed the team the way forward, that persistence pays off and it released the shackles. Ten minutes later you had Kiko Femenía in the most advanced position in the match and he teed up the second for João Pedro to tuck in at the far post. The stubborn resistance of the visitors had been broken and it was game over.

Muñoz will have loved how patient his side remained, how they kept plugging away as things aren't always going to go their way, particularly in a division where lots of teams are going to set up to contain and play on the break against a side relegated from the Premier League. The important thing was they never pushed too hard, too soon only to find themselves having to come from behind to win the game.

There was a maturity about this display, an astuteness in how Muñoz used the depth of the squad when making substitutions and a statement made in terms of the comprehensive nature of the win. It was a job done very professionally, particularly in keeping a clean sheet, the second in a row here and a nice way for Daniel Bachmann to mark his league debut for the club.

Schofield was ironically the star of the first half, producing two moments of inspiration that were otherwise out of keeping with the rest of the action. The 21-year-old had a fine game up at the John Smith's Stadium just before Christmas when the Hornets peppered his goal with 21 shots, and he showed that performance was no fluke with two terrific stops in the opening 45 minutes. He dived low to his left on 12 minutes to keep out one João Pedro swivelled on and then pulled off an even better one just before half-time, diving full length and low to his left to palm one away from Ismaïla Sarr. It looked a certain goal until Schofield's superb intervention. Sarr had started to wheel away in celebration.

The Hornets would liked to have created much more against a side who were without 11 players, but they had almost complete control of the game to such an extent that the visitors didn't even manage to muster a single attempt on goal in the first period. The Terriers had hit the back of the net twice in 32 minutes in the fixture before Christmas.

The liveliest moment of the first half was arguably Troy Deeney piling into Juninho Bacuna in front of the Huddersfield dugout. The captain was rightly shown a yellow card for the challenge, which was probably the result of being frustrated with how the first half was panning out and an attempt to generate a bit of life into proceedings.

It ended up being the vice captain who did it when he hared after a short backpass from Alex Vallejo nine minutes from half-time and almost tackled the ball into the net. It was his fourth goal of the season and further evidence of how he should get into the box more often.

The goal left him just one shy of top-scorer João Pedro, but the Brazilian soon addressed that, demonstrating that developing instinct as a striker by nabbing one at the far post. He now has six for the campaign and is well on track for his personal target of 15.

You wondered if the Hornets might open their legs, get a few thereafter and score three or more at home for the fifth time this season, but this league doesn't always work out like that and the opposition coach, Carlos Corberán, wasn't about to roll over against his fellow countryman in the opposition dugout.

Muñoz used the final third of the the match to showcase the depth of his squad ahead of what is a packed month of fixtures. He'll need everybody, which is just the way he likes it: to hunt like a pack.