Sheffield Wednesday fans in for a treat with Almen Abdi '“ says Carlos Carvalhal

The big-money signing from Premier League side Watford enjoyed a winning debut as the Owls beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Hillsborough last weekend.

The 29-year-old Swiss international slotted into midfield and looks set to return for tomorrow’s trip to Norwich City after sitting out the midweek EFL Cup tie at Cambridge.

Carvalhal was pleased with Abdi’s opening performance.

“It’s not easy for a player to come from outside, and be in our dynamic for just a few days,” he said. “It can be very hard.

“The players understand exactly what want, what to do, and when a new player arrives, it’s not easy.

“It’s normal that they make some mistakes, some of them can be strange ones on the pitch.

“But some footballers understand the game, and Abdi is one of those players who understands the game.

“He was not 100 per cent, although I was very, very happy with him, but we expect in the future he will get better.

“I think he can get back in his national team, the level which he will play. The same thing happened with Daniel (Pudil) also.

“He has talent, and he can show the talent that he has here.”

Wednesday fell at the last hurdle in May, losing to Hull City in the play-off final.

But Carvalhal has recruited wisely, with the likes of international trio Abdi, Pudil and Steven Fletcher.

And the Owls head coach believes his current team is better than 12 months ago.

“We are a team with better abilities than last year, which means we are progressing, and we believe we can progress more,” he said.

“We started our work here one year ago, tried to create a philosophy, and we have started this season working on particular things.

“Day by day, we are getting closer but we will never achieve exactly what we want.

“On Saturday it will be a very tough game, Norwich are one of the strongest sides in the competition.

“They have good players, who have played in the Premier League, a good coach, and very good organisation.

“They won 4-1 at Blackburn, a difficult place, which means they are probably stronger than most other teams in our competition.

“It will be tough, but we are not an easy team to play against either. We are a very tough team to play against. It will be an interesting game - I think they will be favourites.

“They play similar like us, the same dynamic, good individuals. But we have these things too.

“The Championship is a competition which will be decided if you are regular. If you win points, don’t lose too many games, and be consistent, that’s the most important thing.

“The next game we just need to do our best to win points, then onto the next game.”