Huddersfield have granted manager Liam Manning compassionate leave for the rest of the 2025/26 season. The 40-year-old lost his newborn son Theo in October 2024 while he was manager of Bristol City. Huddersfield are still in the hunt for promotion back to the Championship this season despite a difficult run of results under ManningGettyManning took a two-week leave of absence immediately after the tragedy and will now take additional time off at the Accu Stadium. A club statement read: “Liam has made the Club aware of ongoing personal matters relating to the tragic passing of his newborn son Theo in October 2024, and he will now be given time away from his professional duties.“Liam, his wife Fran, their eldest son Isaac, and the entire Manning family have the full support of everyone at Huddersfield Town, and we will keep in regular contact with Liam and those close to him.“We ask that the privacy of Liam and his family is respected during this time.“Our Men’s First Team will be led jointly by Martin Drury and Jon Stead for the remainder of the 2025/26 season, with ongoing support from our wider existing Men’s First Team staff.”Manning was appointed Huddersfield manager in January after Lee Grant was dismissed. The Terriers have since slipped from sixth to ninth in League One, sitting three points off the play-off places. Manning began the season as Norwich manager after narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier League with Bristol City last season. He swapped clubs in the Championship after the Robins were beaten by Sheffield United in the play-off semi-finals.Manning’s stock was high after an impressive campaign at Ashton Gate and Leicester also considered appointing him.It has been a tumultuous 18 months for Manning following a personal tragedyGettyHowever, the Englishman was sacked by the Canaries in November just 17 matches into his reign at Carrow Road. Two months later, he stepped down a division to take the Huddersfield job and won his first three matches in charge.Wins have been more difficult to come by in recent weeks with just two victories in their last nine league games. Huddersfield were beaten 3-1 at Plymouth on Saturday in a promotion six-pointer and Manning did not hide his frustration at full-time. Speaking to the club’s official channel, the manager said: “Angry. Frustrated. Disappointed. The performance was probably the worst since we’ve been here. I thought it was a long way away from where we need to be, especially at this stage of the season. I’m really disappointed.“Did we deserve to be ahead? Not sure. I thought we defended well, in terms of the box, and we desired to head it and do that side of it. But, I thought the quality on the ball wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half, apart from the moment of absolute quality from Cameron Humphreys, who I thought was the best player on the pitch today.“We spoke at half time, and that’s the annoying bit, not to give cheap set-pieces away because we know how good they are. Then before you know it, we’ve obviously given away some really poor goals.”Huddersfield host Reading on Friday with Drury and Stead jointly in charge on an interim basis.