Huddersfield manager David Wagner laughed off his side’s ascent to the top of the Premier League after their 3-0 victory at Crystal Palace.

Despite widely being considered contenders for relegation, appearing in the Premier League for the first time in their history and returning to the top flight after a 45-year absence, they excelled at Selhurst Park to secure a significant win.

His Crystal Palace counterpart Frank de Boer’s first competitive game in charge proved a major disappointment, with his new team appearing likely to again struggle.

However after an own goal from Joel Ward and two finishes from club-record signing Steve Mounie gave Huddersfield the fine start they will likely need in what could yet become a difficult season, Wagner refused to be too upbeat.

“I can’t take that seriously,” the 45-year-old said after laughing. “Let’s just focus on our performance, which was good, and the result was excellent. Nobody is looking at the table.

“We should not look too far ahead. We should focus on what we have seen and that made me very happy. You cannot moan if you play your first game in the top flight in 45 years and you win 3-0 away. We know we were very clinical and had bit of luck when they missed chances.

“With the togetherness and fighting attitude we had, and the idea to keep them away from goal by pressing them as high as possible, we were brave enough to try to press them high and over the game our game plan worked.

“I said beforehand we will stick to our identity and idea. This means you have to show togetherness. We were clinical: it was a great debut for Steve Mounie and we had a great goalkeeper (Jonas Lossl) and that helped massively. Did I expect this result? No, but i hoped it could happen. This makes for a wonderful afternoon.”