Sheffield Wednesday cannot afford a let-up says Neil Thompson
What promises to be a tight and tense battle for survival in the second tier took a positive turn in the direction of the Owls, who moved out of the drop zone with a 2-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers in a bottom-of-the-table showdown at an icy and belatedly snowy Hillsborough on Tuesday night.
A first goal on home soil since October 2017 from Jordan Rhodes - his second goal in a week - put the Owls ahead at the break and Adam Reach's deflected 76th-minute drive sealed the win.
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Hide AdIt secured a fifth successive home league win for the first time since October 2011 for Wednesday, who cast aside Saturday's grim 4-1 loss at Millwall at the first juncture.
Thompson said:“It’s still tight down there. We’ve won the last five at home and five of the last nine. We need to keep doing that.
"In the first half, we did well. We got it wide and got the balls into the box. Jordan got his goal.
“The second half was a bit of scrap., but I thought we were really professional. We had one or two chances to add to it.
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Hide Ad"We had a bad result on Saturday and a bad second half. We had to pick everybody up, but they showed great character.
“If you’re going to win games, you’ve got to work hard. ”
Thompson had some honest conversations with the players in the wake of Saturday's setback and got the desired reaction on a night when the likes of Kadeem Harris - who set up the hosts' first half goal and was full of menace in a right-wing back role - Rhodes and the returning Liam Shaw, who started, all putting their hands up along with others.
Thompson added: “It’s not easy, that’s for sure. You try to be as open and as honest with everybody. Our job as coaches and managers is to improve the players.
"I had a long chat with Kads a couple of weeks ago about a few things, but what a terrific first half. We know what quality he has got. I thought in the first half that he caused them lots of problems and credit to him.
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Hide Ad“He came on at Bournemouth and did really well. His balls into the box were quality as they were (against Wycombe). He got his start. We wanted him to be positive.
Kadeem is positive and direct. It's a question of getting the ball in early. He went and did that.
“Like everyone did, Liam wore his heart on his sleeve. Jordan was in the right place at the right time for the goal. His attitude has been bang on in terms of training.
"I think the lads have shown character to bounce back."