Wednesday will face target Macheda in derby

Macheda was one of several players Jones had targeted to help solve Wednesday’s protracted search for a forward.

But just like Billy Sharp, who has joined Reading from Southampton on loan, Wednesday missed out on the Italian after he opted instead to join Paul Dickov’s Rovers.

The 22-year-old impressed on debut, netting twice in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, leaving Jones – who is hampered by lack of funds to pay for any proposed loan – to carry on haggling for a much-needed striker.

Fresh from a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Birmingham City, the Owls face a South Yorkshire derby against Rovers tomorrow and Jones is looking for an instant response from his side.

“They have brought in Macheda, the boy we were looking at at Manchester United,” said Jones. “He had a good debut last week and Doncaster will be on a high.

“There are strikers still available and we will still try and get them, do deals with them.

“We have tried to get players in and we will keep trying. But we have to cut our cloth accordingly.

“Leroy Lita we have had on the radar for a long time, with a lot of others. We have lost two or three who have gone to other clubs, we have had one or two who have been in the building.

“But until we could afford to get them there’s always been a problem. We will continue to look and continue to ask.”

With just one win in their last 13 games, stretching back to last season, the pressure is on Jones to halt Wednesday’s slump.

But the Owls’ manager insists he still has the backing of chairman Milan Mandaric, who is in negotiations with two groups to sell the club, and defended his record since taking over from Gary Megson last year.

“Since the day I walked in the football club, the chairman has been supportive,” said Jones. “He has a lot on his plate at the moment and I am here to try and do a job.

“The chairman is backing me as much as he possibly can, so forget there’s rifts because there’s not. Somebody asked me last week is it time to go?

“I have been here 18 months, we had a promotion, stayed in the division and we are seven games into the season. If that’s the criteria (for sacking someone) then heaven help a lot of people in football.

“If we are that short-minded and there’s no long-term strategy, then heaven help a lot of people.”