Anthony Musaba's match-winning turns for Sheffield Wednesday need to lead into more consistent performances, says Danny Rohl
The 23-year-old summer signing from Monaco clinched the Owls first away win of the season when he raced onto a through ball to score a 91st-minute winner at Stoke City earlier this month.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThen seven days later he plundered an even later winning goal in the crucial home fixture with Queens Park Rangers.
Late goals have been a hallmark of Wednesday’s mini-revival under Rohl, with strikes against Leicester, Stoke and QPR alone turning two points into seven for a club that was starting to look cut-off at the bottom of the Championship.
For Rohl, Musaba’s scene-stealing turns have been welcome, but so has his overall contribution.
Now the challenge is making that impact more frequent.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“When I arrived he had had a few games where he was a bit unlucky, and now he is the guy who can score, who can give us lots of special things,” said Rohl of a player whose only real experience has come during loan spells at three different clubs in his native Netherlands.
“But also Musaba was very much in the game, before 1-1 he was showing great movement.
“That’s the thing with young players, we have to help them, we have to work with them closer and closer to get more consistent performances out of them.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“But he’s in fantastic shape and it’s fantastic he’s scoring more and more now. For him it was important, the goal at Stoke gave him the belief and the confidence.”
Musaba could be another key figure for Wednesday this Saturday at the start of a typically hectic festive period which brings four games in 10 days.
Strikers Josh Windass and Michael Smith are considered ‘day-to-day’ while Callum Paterson and Bambo Diaby have both recovered from knocks.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut it’s bad news for loanee John Buckley, who lasted just 15 minutes against QPR and had shoulder surgery on Thursday.
“He will be out for the next weeks,” confirmed Rohl.
Buckley’s parent club Blackburn Rovers have a recall option in January, but Rohl was not thinking that far ahead. “It’s important the operation will work, then we will speak to see what is best for the recovery,” he said.