London 0 Sheffield 1, as Semedo enjoys life up north

The man from Portugal may only have been in the north five months but has already been struck by the difference in attitude.

Speaking ahead of today’s north versus south clash with Brentford, the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder said: “The one thing that surprised me about life in Sheffield was my neighbours. When I moved in, everyone knocked on my door to say ‘If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. We can help you with anything!’

“In London, it was completely different. Sometimes I never talk with my neighbour but here they knock on your door and say ‘I know you are new here, anything you need we can help’. It’s unbelievable. Sheffield is much more friendlier than London!”

Semedo spent four years in the capital after joining Charlton Athletic from Sporting Lisbon in summer 2007. Snapped up by the Owls after rejecting a new deal at the Valley, he has quickly become a crowd favourite at Hillsborough.

“I wasn’t worried about moving north because my sister lives and works in Barnsley,” he revealed. “I also knew (former Charlton goalkeeper) Nicky Weaver would help me settle too.

“When I was talking about coming here, I spoke to Nicky and he told me it was a massive club – but I never realised it was so massive.

“There is an amazing atmosphere with the fans. When we play home or away, they fill it up and sell all the tickets. I love it. I don’t feel there would be any difference if I was playing for Manchester United or Liverpool because these fans are so good.”

Only two weeks ago, Owls manager Gary Megson quipped that it would be a ‘cold day in hell’ when Semedo scored a goal. The defensive midfielder duly popped up with his first goal for the Owls in last week’s 2-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers.

It was only his third goal in 168 appearances in English football but the 26-year-old is unconcerned about his low strike rate.

“Scoring is not my priority, my priority is doing my work for the team,” he said. “If goals come, it is good – but I will leave that side of the game to the strikers like Gary Madine and Chris O’Grady.

“The manager congratulated me afterwards and said he had a little feeling I would score. But we needed three points last week to get back to winning ways after losing at Carlisle. That was the most important thing.”

Today’s opponents Brentford are seven points below the Owls who are third in the table – largely thanks to a 100 per cent record in home games.

The Owls aim to dislodge Huddersfield Town or Charlton from the top two automatic promotion places before the end of the season but, for now, Semedo is concentrating only on the next game.

“We have to take it game by game. We don’t look too far ahead,” he said. “It is getting harder as the season goes on because when teams play against us, they make it difficult for us, especially at home.”

Semedo is looking forward to a reunion with a former Charlton team-mate Miguel Llera today. The Spanish defender is on loan at Brentford from Blackpool.

“We are good friends and we keep in touch all the time,” he said. “He’s from Spain and I speak Spanish so we became good friends at Charlton. He’s tough, a big guy, with a good left foot and his English is still not too good.”

Semedo and Ilera will not be the only pair renewing acquaintances at Hillsborough this afternoon.

Brentford manager Uwe Rosler played five games on loan for West Bromwich Albion a decade ago when Owls manager Megson was in charge at the Hawthorns.

“He was a great lad and it will be nice to see him again” said Megson. “We want to turn them over this weekend but I will wish him all the best after that.

“When he came to Albion, he did have an opinion and clearly wanted to go into this side of the game. He’s got the personality, he is taking his first steps in management, and he is doing OK.”

With striker Gary Madine serving the second of a two-game ban, Ryan Lowe is set to start his first home game for the Owls.

Lowe marked his full debut by scoring the winning goal last weekend at Wycombe and his return to fitness has been a timely boost to the Owls’ attacking options along with the return of Clinton Morrison following a loan spell at Milton Keynes Dons

“We knew what kind of players we wanted to bring in this season and we now have a lot of bases covered,” said Megson. “Hopefully, when all the strikers are fit and available we will have different options that cover every eventuality.”

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