'Hungry' Sheffield Wednesday ready to prove Chris Wilder jibe wrong
Sheffield Wednesday are "hungry" for the Championship run-in says manager Danny Rohl, who has the numbers to prove it.
For some time, Rohl's ambitions for the Owls has been to be in a position to push for the Championship play-offs when they return from the international break.
Sunday's 1-0 loss at home to Sheffield United hurt those hopes, causing victorious manager Chris Wilder to declare their season "done" with six points to make up in eight games.
Crucially, though, the Owls squad do not see it that way, especially after going into the March 2024 break on the back of a 6-0 defeat at Ipswich Town which left them second-bottom of the Championship, only to escape relegation.
"The good thing is my team is hungry," said Rohl. "We're not waiting for the season to be over.
"Some players said to me straight after Sunderland (in February), if we win nine from 11 we have a big chance to achieve more. I like this.
"It isn't everything but I said to my team in the last two away games the data showed we came back to our highest level of intensity. If we can keep this in our eight finals, there's a big chance to win a lot of games."
Although Wednesday lost at the weekend, it was for the most part a good performance.
"When you recognise our performance was good in the last weeks and it was just the results that were not coming, you believe and you know the moment will come when the performance is linked with the results," argued Rohl.
"Plymouth, except for the first six minutes, we played a good game; Norwich you cannot just say we were bad (in the first half) because this is not true, we played against a strong side that did a lot of things right in the first half.
"They had a good day and were quicker in their mindsight but we could change it and this is a big strength of my group, they can adjust and transfer things from half-time to the pitch."
The return to the fold of Callum Paterson has been an important one for the Owls.
The versatile Scot did not make his first league start of the season until late January – more from being out of favour than fitness – but has kicked off seven of the last 10 and was heavily involved in the bright start his team made against the Blades.
It is a feature of Rohl's time as head coach and a tribute to his man-management that players he has seemingly written off have performed when given their chance.
"At the beginning of the season Callum was not really involved but he never gave up," reflected Rohl.
"A first huge step was against Stoke at home when we were one man less and we won and he scored.
"Nate (Chalobah also) showed now he is ready to play.
"We have a lot of challenges (for places in the team) and it is good to see everybody fighting for the position. Sometimes I have to make difficult decisions and have difficult meetings with the players. Sometimes I'm sad for them."
As for the situation defensively, Rohl is hopeful of having Akin Famewo back in time for the next game, at Cardiff City, after the centre-back suffered a serious thigh injury in October.
That would counter-act the serious-looking injury Max Lowe picked up in the first half of Sunday's derby, though there was also some concern about Dominic Iorfa in only his third game back from injury.
“It looks okay for Akin, but you saw at the end with Dommer that he was starting to stretch," said Rohl.
"This position has been hard work for us this season – one comes, one goes out. We just have to cross our fingers for Max that it’s not the worst one.
"Dommer gives me more options in the full-back position – with Pol (Valentin) an attacking full-back or with Dommer someone who is more of a centre-back. We can play with a three or four."