New contract is Jordan Rhodes's goal as he looks to get playing and scoring for Sheffield Wednesday

DETERMINED: Jordan Rhodes (centre) celebrates after scoring his only Sheffield Wednesday goal this season, at Cardiff City

Tony Pulis's arrival means a fresh start for Rhodes, who despite starting the season as the Owls' only senior specialist striker, has only started twice.

In total he has scored just nine goals in 53 appearances since making his January 2017 loan permanent for a fee of £8m that summer.

It is a far cry from the form which built his reputation at Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers.

With his contract up at the end of this season, and Wednesday having started clearing the decks of its big earners in the summer, the chances of it being extended looked extremely slim indeed under Monk, but Pulis's appointment offers a ray of light and Rhodes is determined to make the most of it.

“I'm here and I'm contracted and it's about the here and the now,” he said when asked if he wanted to stay beyond this season.

“We've got a new manager in place and it's up to me and everybody else to try and impress.

“I want to be here. I've worked really hard to get here and I've got a fond connection to Sheffield Wednesday as well so I'm desperate to do well.

“The only way I'm going to get another contract with Sheffield Wednesday is by doing the business, scoring goals and playing in a team that's winning I know so that's the long-term aim but the short-term aim is to get in the team and do well. I've got to work as hard as I can to get into the team first and foremost and be a valuable team member.”

He has not given up hope of recapturing the form of his early years, despite only four goals in Monk's 13-month tenure, the last of them at Cardiff City in September.

“I'd like to think I could get back to that,” he said. “If I didn't think I could do that I would retire tomorrow.

“Nothing's changed in my beliefs, in me as a character and a footballer. I know that if I'm given the chance I can be that 20-goal-a-season striker so I'll try and do the best I can for the team to be on a team that wins more often than not.”

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