Nahki Wells kept his feet planted firmly on the ground after playing an integral role in Huddersfield Town’s Capital One Cup victory over of Sky Bet League One side Chesterfield.

The 24-year-old striker opened his season account with a maiden hat-trick for Huddersfield, who came from behind to win 5-3 in extra time at the Proact Stadium on Tuesday.

Rather than claim all the glory, Wells heaped praise on fellow striker Jonathan Stead, who capped a solid shift by scoring in stoppage time to send the game into extra time, where Huddersfield completed a remarkable fightback to advance to the second round of the competition.

“In my opinion Steady was the man of the match tonight,” Wells said. “He worked his socks off, linked play, won his fair share of headers and kept everything nice and simple. It’s nice to get a hat-trick, but I’m actually not too pleased with my performance.

“That happens in football — you don’t play well and get a hat-trick, then on other days you play brilliantly and can’t score. This will help my confidence though — I think I needed that.”

Huddersfield won despite twice trailing by two-goal margins with Wells converting in the 58th, 84th — from a penalty — and 94th minutes.

Chesterfield led 3-1 with 19 minutes remaining before Huddersfield turned their fortunes around. The result was just what the Sky Bet Championship side needed after last weekend’s 4-0 hammering by Bournemouth in their season opener and the sacking of manager Mark Robins. “I think everyone involved with the club needed that because it’s been a tough few days for us,” Wells said. “It was important we represented the club well tonight and show that we have the desire.

“Mark Lillis [caretaker manager] and the technical staff did well to galvanise us and help us come from behind.

“They brought on a few more attacking players — the changes were good and gave us more of a threat. I’m delighted to get off the mark with a hat-trick, but more importantly I think we deserved to go through. Hopefully this will kick-start our season.

“I know from experience that anything is possible in this competition, so hopefully we get a big team in the next round. We have the players here to compete in the Championship. We have a good, young team that has a bright future and we should move forward and continue to grow.”

Huddersfield are away to Cardiff City, who were relegated from the Barclay’s Premier League last season, on Saturday.