Sheffield Wednesday: Storey is not over yet at Hillsborough

The Owls lost their play-off semi-final first leg at the Stadium of Light 1-0 but Storey saw enough not to give up on his ambition when moving to Hillsborough in January.

“They’re too big to be in this division,” Preston North End centre-back Storey said of the Owls, although Sunderland fans will be saying the same. “The whole club’s been great to me from the get-go and I would love to repay the favour and help get them to the final and back up to the Championship.

“I’d feel like I’d failed if I can’t help the team achieve that.

“We’re disappointed with (Friday’s) result but it’s only 1-0 and we can easily turn the tide.

“We struggled to get into a rhythm, they pressed well and we sort of couldn’t play our passing possession game. ”

Although Sunderland had other chances, their only goal came when Ross Stewart pounced on an uncharacteristic Sam Hutchinson mistake.

“On another day Hutch clears it and you’ve just got to cope with it as best you can,” said Storey.

“He apologised but everyone’s culpable for one. All the boys, I’m sure, have made a mistake like that in their careers, it’s about how you bounce back from it.”

Asked what next season holds for him, Storey replied: “It’s all eyes on this. I couldn’t care less about any of that at the moment.

“I’ve got one job here and that’s to get the team to the Championship.”