Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday: Owls urged to rediscover their '˜heart and soul'

Sheffield Wednesday’s head coach has enjoyed far more ups than downs in his 14-month spell with the Owls, which has been relatively smooth.

But with expectation high following the promotion near-miss last term, the club’s modest start to the current campaign – with Carvalhal’s side heading to Griffin Park on the back of successive league defeats for the first time in almost a year – has represented a rare bump in the road.

Added factors, including the brouhaha regarding Fernando Forestieri’s future, has made it even more of a testing spell for the Portuguese; not that he is fretting.

He said: “I accept it has been, probably (the most challenging time). It is not an easy time and with the transfer window, it is also hard at this moment because you are preparing for the games and caring about the players and teams and analysing possible players to come to the team and players who may move.

“Everything is on my shoulders and it is normal in this period that I have a lot more work – not pressure. It is not a problem, but a lot of work.”

After rare successive losses for Wednesday, Carvalhal is challenging his side to rediscover a vibrant “heart and soul” following two inhibited performances against Leeds and Burton.

He added: “We talked with the players and we talk the same language and understand that this soul and environment between us and in everybody must be very strong to win games.

“It was our strong point last season. We played teams better than us, but beat them because of our heart and soul.

“We played against Aston Villa and they are probably a better team than us and we beat them and we played with the heart and soul and the brand from Yorkshire and Sheffield.

“In the Burton game and even Leeds, the process was okay with the way we made chances. But there was something we didn’t give on the pitch and we will recover very fast.”