Watford v Sheffield Wednesday: Wickham urged to relax in order to fulfil his potential

The 19-year-old striker arrived at Hillsborough on loan from Sunderland, where he has struggled to meet massive expectations after the Black Cats splashed out £8m to lure him from Ipswich Town.

He scored just one goal in 23 appearances on Wearside, but after dropping down to the Championship has not found the net in his opening four games with the Owls.

However, Jones believes Wickham just needs to start playing regular football to kickstart his career.

“He just needs to keep playing, working hard at his game and enjoy it,” said Jones. “He needs to get a smile on his face and start enjoying his football again.

“I think at the moment it’s a little bit hard work for him. He needs to just relax and play, because he is a very good player. It’s a great game to be involved in, a hard game, but you have to enjoy it. It’s a fantastic life.

“He’s not played a lot of football over the last year and that eventually does catch up with you.

“He will have his ups and downs, but people also forget his age. He’s still a baby in footballing terms.

“Not playing week-in, week-out, not learning as much, it’s only game-time that gives you experience, not training.”

Wickham – who will play for England in the European Under-21 Championships this summer – made his debut for Ipswich aged 16 and his goals attracted Premier League scouts before a big-money move to Sunderland.

“I think sometimes we forget how young he is, then he has got the price tag that is on his head,” said Jones. “I had this with Kevin Davies, who we took to Southampton from Chesterfield. The price tag was £7.5m, he went from Southampton to Blackburn and people thought he was the finished article. He wasn’t, he was still a young boy.

“Kevin has gone on and had an unbelievable career, but that period was his learning process.

“When you pay £7.5m for somebody, a lot of people expect the finished article, but he was nowhere near.”

Jones pointed to big-money teenage signings like Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott who all needed time to develop before becoming household names in the Premier League.

Wickham’s loan deal expires after the visit of Cardiff City on March 16, but Jones hopes to extend the agreement until the end of the season.

The striker was withdrawn at half-time in Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, but Jones has no doubts about his potential.

“Connor didn’t have the best of games on Saturday, but neither did anybody else,” he said. “I think the kid has an abundance of ability and I think it’s just finding the switch that will enable him to push on with the rest of his career. I think it’s only a matter of time before that happens.

“We want the best out of him. We have seen sparks of that, what you want is that consistency. That is the same with anybody here.

“I would like to keep Connor, and I think he would like to stay as well. It will all depend on what (Sunderland manager) Martin (O’Neill) feels is right for him.”

Jones has told Wednesday’s youngsters they need to follow the example of Manchester United’s players, such as Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

“If you look at Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, if you see the work-rate that kid does,” said Jones. “He’s a multi-millionaire, won medals, played at the highest level. Yet what keeps that appetite? It’s not the money, it’s the drive to do better and better.

“That’s what the young players of today need to find. It’s no different for the young ones we have here, like Jeremy (Helan) and Michail (Antonio).

“They have an ability, but don’t let that ability just keep you here. Strive to be the best. Either take this club where it wants to go (Premier League), or go somewhere where the ambitions are far greater.

“That’s what should be driving you on.

“If they were top players they would already be at bigger clubs. We have to make sure when we get these players, we polish them, polish them right and they keep getting better and better.”

Tonight the Owls face a tough-looking trip to Watford, with Jones expecting a similar challenge to his side’s trip to Hull City back in January – both sides employ wing-backs – where he employed wingers Antonio and Jermaine Johnson up front.

The Vicarage Road trip is swiftly followed by Leciester City away on Saturday, but Jones knows a win could propel the Owls away from the relegation drop zone.

“We could have gone up five or six places with a win on Saturday, and we can still do that – that shows how crazy this division is,” said Jones.

“We have got some tough games coming up between now and the end of the season, it will show how far we have come.”

Jones has confirmed he has no plans to recall Chris O’Grady from his loan spell at Barnsley, despite the striker scoring twice for the Oakwell side who are battling alongside Wednesday to avoid the drop.

The Owls are tonight missing left-back Reda Johnson (illness) and carrying a couple of knocks from the Forest defeat.

But goalkeeper Stephen Bywater is due to be on the bench, wearing a mask to protect his triple fracture of the cheekbone which he picked up in training.

Fellow goalkeeper Nicky Weaver is out for the season after a hand operation.

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Last six games: Watford WDWWWD, Sheffield Wednesday WWDDWL.

Last time: Watford 4 Sheffield Wednesday 1; October 23, 2009; Championship.

Referee: D Sheldrake (Surrey).