Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United: Svante Ingelsson on the family sacrifices and pick-me-ups behind his Owls start

Ingelsson and his wife have got used to making sacrifices since moving to Italy when he was 19. The mindset he learnt there, with its heavy focus on tactics and professionalism, have stood him in good stead for Danny Rohl's Wednesday.

But the human side of football cannot be ignored, and the distraction of his loved ones has been useful in dealing with Sunday's 4-0 hammering at Sunderland, and preparing to move on against Leeds United on Friday.

Whatever their age or experience, the ups and downs of life at Sheffield Wednesday demand steady characters, and the 26-year-old Swede comes across as exactly that.

Ingelsson's start to the season has been extreme even by the Owls' standards, creating the goal which set them on the way to a thumping 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle with a man-of-the-match performance at a rocking Hillsborough.

He watched from the sidelines as an entirely-changed XI knocked Hull City out of the League Cup, then returned at the Stadium of Light, where sloppy mistakes and the Black Cats' pressing saw the Owls dragged back to earth.

Ingelsson had a goal disallowed for offside almost immediately after Sunderland went 3-0 up in the 24th minute, quashing faint hopes of a dramatic comeback.

After the game and ever since, Rohl's message has been not to over-react – just as it was after Plymouth – and the central midfielder had some help in that respect.

"After a game like Sunderland it's nice to come home and try not to reflect on it too much directly until the day after at the training ground," he says. "It helps a lot to have the family here and try to get away from football when you can."

Initially, though, they were of the view that it was better to leave him be as he settled in South Yorkshire.

"Me and my wife decided they (his wife and son) would stay at home in Sweden until the pre-season was over because there’s a lot of training, a lot of meetings so you're not at home that much," he explains. "It was easier for them.

"To be without them for six weeks is a long time, especially when you have a young kid but now it's very nice that they are here again.

"Six weeks is a long period but still a short time so I think if you can concentrate a little bit more in that time it's good to settle in and fix everything around the football as well.

"I think it was a good decision but now I'm really happy they're here."

That said, the football could not be ignored this week and Middlewood Road on Monday was all about dissecting the defeat as Ingelsson got a first glimpse of what Rohl looks like after losing a match that matters.

"Managers have to do different things in different situations but I think we had a good review of the game, like we always have," he reflects. "We're always critical about what we can do better, even if we win or lose. We have done our homework and we're looking forward to our next game.”

It is a big one against a side widely tipped for the title but still looking for their first win. Not that it really matters what form the opposition is in when you are Sheffield Wednesday and they are Leeds United.

"Leeds play a little bit more straight-forward football but they also have a lot of quality in the team but I think we have a good plan for the game,” says Ingelsson.

"It's more about the performance than the result. We want to win the game but we have to get the same performance as against Plymouth.

"Evening games are always special and such a game against a good team will be really interesting."

The fans who have already taken to him will help, he says.

"The fans were great,” is his verdict. "When you have a start like that (Jamal Lowe finishing his cross 35 minutes in against Plymouth) and you get the first goal and just kept going I think they appreciated the football we play and it gets even louder.

"This could be a good weapon for us all season to have these fans at home who always support us."

Having played in Sweden, Italy and Germany, Ingelsson is enjoying a bit more latitude to set his own boundaries, even under the exacting Rohl.

"Every home game we went to a hotel the day before so you were almost away for two days for home games," he said of his time at Udinese, who loaned him back to hometown club Kalmar and Padeborn, before selling him to Hansa Rostock.

"It's a different culture in how they want to do things and you have to adapt to I but I like it how it is here and in Germany, a little bit more relaxed and you can decide things for yourself a little bit more.

"Every athlete wants to do the best for himself anyway so I prefer how it is here."