Henrik Pedersen was pleased with the directness of a Sheffield Wednesday side he believes is heading in the right direction ahead of their League One opener at Leyton Orient.

The League Cup first-round tie at home to Bolton Wanderers was a competitive game in its own right, and Pedersen treated it as such with his strongest available side and substitutions which helped force a 1-0 win after Xavier Simons was sent off for punching Harry Gray.

The goal was a thing of beauty from substitute Jamal Lowe, lobbing the goalkeeper to score in off the post after 70 minutes, but it came from the sort of straight ball from Barry Bannan his manager wants to see more of in the third tier.

"We've had a good pre-season and then last week against Oldham (a 4-0 defeat in their final friendly) it was an example of how we don't want to be," reflected Pedersen. "And today I saw my boys back on the pitch for who we want to be.

"I saw a lot of steps in the right direction for our aggressive pressing, for our quick transition, more players higher up when we won the ball, a more forward mindset.

"I saw a team when we were generally on the ball that had less backwards passes, less sideways passes, but there was a good verticality in this. And then I saw a culture with a team where everything was not perfect, but there was no evaluation (no dwelling on it).

"We keep on going and they keep on working and they keep on working as a group.

"So, yeah, I'm happy for them."

HAPPY DAYS: Henrik Pedersen with Max Lowe at full-time (Image: Steve Ellis)

placeholder image — HAPPY DAYS: Henrik Pedersen with Max Lowe at full-time (Image: Steve Ellis)

But for all that talk, there was no question of Pedersen treating the match as a warm-up for Brisbane Road.

"We are here for winning football games and we have to get used to winning," said Pedersen, whose side won just twice in a crisis-torn 2025-26.

"Today we find a way to win, next Saturday we have to find another way to win. But of course it means a lot, it means everything in this situation where we are. We have to learn to win and find a way to win.

"How the boys keep concentrating, keep going, keep going.

MATCHWINNER: Jamal Lowe (Image: Steve Ellis)

"We changed a little bit earlier than we did last season (with substitutions) and I think we did it well, also when the players came on.

"It was a great goal, but it was also a Jamal with intensity, a Jamal who kept running. And this is one of the things we have spoken about in the team, that we generally want to change a little bit earlier to increase the intensity."

Billy Mitchell and Liam Cooper were amongst those missing through injury, with Louie Barry on the bench due to a lack of training in the week. Ricardo Santos was an unused substitute after a disrupted pre-season.

But Pedersen is hoping all can be pushing to start on Saturday.

"I hope that we, through next week, will have a full squad," he said. "I hope Billy can train at the beginning of the week, Ricardo has trained through the week."

The second round draw is on Monday evening at around 7.20pm.