Birmingham City v Sheffield Wednesday: Danny Rohl urges embattled players to believe in 'clear direction'

Sheffield Wednesday earned just six points in their opening 16 games to leave Danny Rohl's team a long way from safety on their return to action.

The two-week international break gave Rohl the chance to heal wounds following a chastening 4-0 home defeat by Millwall in their last outing.

For Rohl, who inherited a beleaguered side last month after Xisco Munoz oversaw the club's worst-ever start to a season, belief is the key to Wednesday's chances of escaping the drop.

"I tell them very often that I believe in us," he said ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Birmingham City.

"We have to believe in us and our way and our process. It can sometimes look a little bit difficult when you take no points and you start to think about how good you are but if the process is right and you're convinced about it, the results will come.

"Hopefully as soon as possible but I've got a clear direction of how I want to play football. I think this is helpful for the players."

The German led the Owls to their first win of the season against Rotherham United in late October but four defeats either side have left his team nine points adrift of safety.

As much as he wants to play on the front foot with aggression, Rohl appreciates the need for immediate results, even with 30 games still remaining.

"There's a long way to go," he said.

"We've got to make the gap closer and closer as we get closer to the line. That means we have to start taking points.

"We've got to improve the players and improve the team but on the other hand we have to take points.

"It's not just about the improvement because we don't have so much time like a big pre-season. In the last two weeks we had a small pre-season and that was important for me and my staff.

"Now we come into a busy time with a lot of games and not so much training."

After a stop-start opening to the season due to international football, Wednesday are gearing up for 10 games in little over five weeks.

Rohl understands the importance of coming out of the most demanding period of the campaign in credit.

"If you take good points in the next 10 games, you can take a huge step forward," he added.

"We have to get points in the next games and then we can look to January and what we can do for the second leg.

"Now it's about focusing game by game and going forward."

A trip to St Andrew's to face a side low on confidence offers Wednesday the chance to right the wrongs of the hammering by Millwall.

Although the scoreline got away from the Owls, Rohl was heartened by his team's ability to create chances.

"Sometimes you have a feeling about what was good and what was not good but you have to compare this with your data," he said.

"It sounds a little bit crazy when you look back to Millwall. We were all very disappointed about the result and performance but if you look back we had all the opportunity to score.

"In this game which was over after 3-0, we had three big chances. If we score a goal, we can maybe score a second goal. Working on what we need to do in the final third has been a big topic in the last two weeks."

Birmingham have taken just one point from Wayne Rooney's five games in charge, with their most recent defeat at Sunderland leaving the early high-fliers 18th in the table.

Rohl is confident Wednesday will fight fire with fire against another team that are desperate for points.

"They haven't taken many points in the last few games but we know it will be a big challenge," he said.

"We've prepared very well and done all the things we have to do. I'm always big about our team and our performance.

"It's about being strong and ready for this battle. It will be a battle and a challenge there.

"I have a good feeling. I'm convinced about what we've been doing in the last two weeks. It's a process.

"Sometimes we have a game like Millwall where there's a turning point in the game. We've spoken about this point and what we can do in the future.

"Hopefully we will see this on Saturday. We will go there to take points, for sure."

The Blues were in the play-off positions when John Eustace was sacked and replaced with Rooney.

When asked about the mental state of the Birmingham players, Rohl replied: "It's difficult from the outside to speak about what happens there.

"For me, it's about focusing on my job here. It's doesn't matter to me what happens in other clubs.

"The most important thing is that our performance is right."