Danny Rohl praises Sheffield Wednesday away-day character ahead of League Cup test

The Owls have been drawn away in every round of the competition but so far, the ties have been fairly kind.

Hull City were still putting their squad together as they tried to learn new coach Tim Walter's style of play when they were dispatched in round one. Grimsby Town play in League Two and Blackpool – also under new management with Steve Bruce – in League One. Neither caused too many problems.

But the last remaining Yorkshire team in the competition now face Premier League opposition in Brentford for a place in Wednesday's quarter-final draw.

With Newcastle United playing Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur versus Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion v Liverpool, another good away performance could open things up for the Owls as they look to emulate Middlesbrough, who reached last season's semi-finals from the Championship.

Rohl's side started the league campaign poorly away from home with a 4-0 defeat at Sunderland, then a 3-0 reverse at Millwall.

But there have been signs of improvement recently, with a clean sheet at Bristol City followed by come-from-behind 2-1 victories over Coventry City and, on Friday, Portsmouth.

"Seven points, two comebacks, we've scored four goals," reflected Rohl. "Last season we spoke sometimes about our away performance, now it's better.

"It's not easy to come back two times in a row, against Coventry and Portsmouth, I think it showed a lot and this is maybe a step forward in our development but we have to improve the first-half (performance).

"We want to improve, we want to be strong, and we have to work on it."

Injuries are starting to hit the squad, with Olaf Kobacki and Akin Famewo picking up injuries in the last seven days, but Rohl has so far used the competition to give time to some on the fringes and is likely to do so again in west London on Tuesday.

Famewo went off in the first half at Fratton Park and is being assessed.

“It could be a big muscle injury," commented his manager.

“It’s a big shame, he has been in a good way and very strong game by game.

"I have been asked about rotation and we rotated five players again (on Friday), we use the squad and try to protect them, but we cannot do it in every position because we need to keep a core. I had a lot of thinking about how we went into that game.

"We need the full squad to be ready in this league.

“We will find solutions. We are still just in October, it is a busy time with November and December to come. We have to recover, recover, recover, we need rotation.”

The picture on winger Kobacki is not clear either yet, but Rohl is pessimistic about the Pole.

“It looks like a big one, it could be six or eight weeks," he said. "With a muscle injury you never know, it takes time and with a muscle injury you take a scan, you look at how it goes with the treatments.

"It’s a shame, but it’s time for others to take the opportunity and step up.

"I cross my fingers for him because he was very sharp and very helpful for us. We have not so much time – every injury now means four, five, six weeks out because we play so much.”

Rohl is at least pleased he has the squad to get through the intensity of the Championship treadmill, commenting that after the international break "We played three games in six days and we can keep the intensity now."

The quarter-final draw will be shown after Wednesday’s televised game from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.