Sheffield Wednesday's Marvin Johnson keen to help team-mate Djeidi Gassama realise his full potential

The Owls signed the 19 year-old – he turned 20 in September – from Paris Saint-Germain in August excited about the winger's potential.

Not helped by coming into a side which made a terrible start to its step up to the Championship, the Frenchman unsurprisingly struggled to show his best form under manager Xisco Munoz.

His successor, Danny Rohl, dipped Gassama in for consecutive starts in November but he did not return to the XI until consecutive appearances in the last two Championship games which have shown glimpses of his best form.

Gassama scored his first goal for the club in the New Year's Day win over Hull City to round off an electrifying performance.

In those matches he has formed a good partnership with Johnson, a 33-year-old winger who was excluded from the side under Munoz, but who has been used as a left-back in recent weeks.

"I believe with the experience I've got I can help him with off-the-ball stuff and I'm fit myself so I can get up and down and help him and try and talk to him to get the best out of him because we can see what he can do, he can be a massive threat, same as (23-year-old right-winger Anthony) Musaba," said Johnson, who found the net against Hull and at Preston North End.

"As long as I can stay behind him and keep him on track it will only benefit the team.

"He's a young lad with tonnes of ability. The last two games he's started for us, he's been immense. He's been a great help to the team."

Johnson was part of an experienced Owls team which won promotion from League One via the play-offs last season, Gassama and Musaba part of an influx of young players designed to give the group more dynamism for the step up.

Munoz lasted just 12 games – none of them won – before being sacked and replaced by 34-year-old Rohl, a first-time manager but one with seven years of high-pedigree coaching experience and an enthusiasm for working with young players.

Under Rohl's guidance, the relegation-threatened team has started to find its feet, taking 16 of the 22 points won this season in the last 10 games.

That it has taken players like Gassama time to adjust to England's notoriously idiosyncratic and highly-physical football should come as no surprise, and Johnson suggested that learning some much-needed tactical discipline under Rohl has been a big factor.

"They're young lads who have never played in England before and even when they were coming on, they forgot the off-the-ball stuff in the Championship and teams can hurt you," said the versatile former Middlesbrough player. "As we've seen in the past two games, Gassama's learning that now. He's worked terrifically hard off the ball and you can see when he's on the ball he's getting his rewards.

"He got his goal against Hull and he's had a couple of assists coming off the bench as well, so I'm buzzing for him."