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Andre Breitenreiter has accused some of his Huddersfield players of lacking “heart and passion” after the club’s relegation to League One was made virtually certain.

The Terriers’ draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham means they are as good as down, needing to win their final game, hope Plymouth lose and make up a goal difference disadvantage of 15 to remain in the Championship.

Boss Breitenreiter, who succeeded Darren Moore in February, has seen his team win just two of their 10 games since his appointment.

He did not hold back on criticising some of his squad after being asked by ����ý Radio Leeds about the mood in the dressing room, saying “All the players are disappointed. It’s clear some players are more disappointed than other players.

“Some players left early, but they leave early every day so this was also a question for me of heart and passion and the willingness to stay together with the team.

'Big problem'

“This is also a big problem in the team for the whole season I think, but for sure for the time I am here.”

Breitenreiter also made it plain that some players had only been selected because others were injured.

He said: “I’m not here to find excuses, for me as a person I am strong enough.

“We all make mistakes, and me too. I think I made mistakes that I waited too long to suspend some players, maybe, or to find the right players to play with heart and passion but we had a lot of injuries, we had not many options.”

Breitenreiter was happy with his team’s performance against Birmingham and singled out two players for showing the right attitude.

He said: "We played high risk, Ollie Turton played injured for a long time, that cannot play normally as a starter he is ready for 20 minutes, like Rhys Healey.

“They showed us all that it’s possible when you play with heart and passion - they’re totally dead at the end of the game and I’m sure after 60 minutes but they did it for Huddersfield Town and this is what the club needs, the culture, the right players, showing the best in every game for Huddersfield and don’t want to shine individually.”

When asked about the future, he said: “We have to analyse the whole season, we have to speak about the future then we decide what happens after the season.

"Now it’s really too early. There were too many mistakes across the whole season, also in my time when I arrived.”