Sheffield Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz on new signings and Southampton ahead of the EFL's Championship curtain-raiser - and will the Owls be ready?

Or the significance of it being his first competitive match in charge either.

On the training ground, the Spaniard, whose side host Southampton at Hillsborough, has been fully focused on working with a group of players who he has known for less than a month.

Away from it, he has been spinning plates on the transfer front. Wednesday are starting to make inroads at least.

After this week's signing of versatile defender Di'Shon Bernard, Wednesday are working on three deals ahead of their opener against Saints.

Speaking at this pre-match press conference, Owls chief Munoz said that the club were ‘very, very close’ to completing some incoming transfer business – and expects activity before Friday.

The additions of Dutch winger Anthony Musaba, who is set to join on loan from Ligue 1 side Monaco and AC Milan's Colombian-born goalkeeper Devis Vasquez are close, with the Owls sealing the signing of former Barnsley player and Preston defender Bambo Diaby on Wednesday evening for an undisclosed fee.

Given where Wednesday were in terms of their paucity of options as recently as their testing pre-season trip to Spain earlier this month, they seem to be in a better place at least.

Munoz, who saw defenders Juan Delgado and Pol Valentin arrive last week alongside former Middlesbrough and Barnsley forward Ashley Fletcher, said:

"Every day, we are more ready and the team is more of a team and the demands of my style are there more. I understand more every day.

"After four weeks, you need (more) time, but I am sure we can do it.

"Now more players arrive and we need to continue to work hard together to have a good squad.

"Right now, the most important thing in this situation is when you have two players for every position.

"I don't know exactly how many we can sign until the end of the windows but we're working very hard. We have many players on our list.

"I am very happy with the players who have arrived and the players who I am sure will arrive."

While eve-of-season talk at Wednesday is dominated by reports of new signings, it's a contrasting scenario at Southampton.

Speculation on the south coast is centring on the potential departures of leading stars Romeo Lavia - a target for Liverpool and Manchester United - and James Ward-Prowse, said to still be on the radar of West Ham despite a £30m bid being rejected.

It remains to be seen if they feature on Friday, but Xisco has an answer to those who suggest it might not be a bad time to face the relegated Saints, with uncertainty abound regarding several players.

He continued: "Always when you play against a good and strong team, we will try to give our best. But after the game, maybe they sell one, two or three players and it's totally different.

"Right now, they are ready. This is the situation. If they sell the players after the game, something changes."