Sheffield Wednesday v Birmingham City: Goals the priority as Owls fire blanks
Coaxing more goals out of Sheffield Wednesday is a priority for manager Henrik Pedersen ahead of Tuesday night's Championship visit of Birmingham City.
With relegation all but certain – the Owls are 35 points from safety with 20 games left – they have to give fans anything they can.
But they have gone five games without a goal, and 20 without a win. Another on Tuesday will set an unwanted club record.
They are the only Championship side yet to reach double-figure goals at home in the league, with just seven in 14 matches.
"What I can see is development in how we play with the ball," insisted Pedersen. "We're going to be stronger in possession but to be effective on the ball we have to develop how we break the final line more with deep runs, one-v-ones, give-and-go and playing in the box. We're working on this.
"I promise we will work on this every day we can in training because this is the priority.
"On Saturday we were very aggressive in the pressing because we create most chances when we play very quickly and when we're winning the ball so a way to create chances is to have good pressing."
Pedersen plans to talk with Nathan Redmond after the game, due to be the penultimate match of his short-term contract.
There is also speculation around the futures of a range of players, including Barry Bannan and Max Lowe, as well as the ongoing question of whether Manchester United will allow Harry Amass to resume his loan.
With his club in administration, Pedersen is giving advice but not making decisions. He used the two loans the Football League granted the Owls to sign Murphy Cooper and Jaden Heskey on Friday.
On Redmond specifically, he said: "I think we have the possibility to replace him but we need to speak to the EFL for every single case."