Sheffield Wednesday v AFC Wimbledon: Actions now speaking louder than words for Owls

Just two defeats at league level have arrived, against Oxford and Rotherham, with the Owls’ haul of 44 points from 20 league matches thus far representing the best home record across English football’s top-four tiers.

That said, they did err in the immediate aftermath of the 5-2 victory over Burton at Hillsborough at the start of last month with some very public declarations that the club were still targeting a top-two finish and were aiming to go unbeaten all season.

Wednesday promptly lost their next game against Lincoln and it provided a reality check.

After last weekend’s comprehensive 4-1 victory over Cheltenham, there were no such statements of intent, something Wednesday’s players have periodically fallen into the trap of at other stages earlier this season.

Striker Lee Gregory, who scored his first goal since December 11 in the win, which saw the Owls move into the play-off positions, said: “I think we got caught up talking about it quite a lot in beating this team and that team and what we are doing.

“It took us a few months to say: ‘You know what, let’s stop thinking about other teams. We are about ourselves.

“We have got dragged in things before and made it worse for ourselves. I have previously spoken about promotion and we shouldn’t get dragged into that.

“Since we have stopped talking about stuff like that and got our heads down and cracked on with the game, we’ve been a lot better.”

Wednesday are short-priced favourites to continue their outstanding home form against relegation-haunted Wimbledon today, who start life under the command of Mark Bowen.

The Dons upset the Owls in the reverse fixture, coming back from 2-0 down to earn a point and that will represent an added motivation for the hosts today.

Gregory, who struck twice in that fixture, added: “Yes, definitely. We kind of owe them one a little bit, I suppose.”