Sheffield Wednesday v QPR: Why the Owls 'siege mentality' is a trip down memory lane for Will Vaulks

Experienced Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Will Vaulks can vouch for that, from his time across the Tinsley Viaduct at Rotherham United.

Back in December 2017, the then-Millers manager Paul Warne found himself fighting for his job ahead of a League One fixture at Blackpool.

Trailing 1-0, heading into the final quarter of the game on December 9, the Millers’ winless league streak was in grave danger of extending into an alarming eighth match.

Redemption was at hand by way of two priceless late goals.

Vaulks and the Millers never looked back in a season which ended in promotion via the play-offs at Wembley.

At his current club, the Owls are showing signs of life amid their relegation fight. Plenty can happen between now and late spring, for sure.

Vaulks said: "What people never understand with football - and us as players never will - is the power of momentum.

"It’s something that can be in games for ten minutes where you think: ‘how can we not get hold of this? Or if you are on top and battering a side. It’s the same with a run of results in what it builds.

"That’s why it was disappointing not to take something away at Norwich as momentum was building.

"But it is up to us to start it again and I think over the past five games that we have built that bit of momentum and getting the fans behind us and with the players on the pitch, it feels a bit more confident that we can come back from adversity.

"That (momentum) is something in football that money can’t buy and even the top managers talk about it - being on that good run and feeling and momentum is definitely the word.

"That’s why the Christmas period is always an exciting one as you can soon put a run together and the table starts to look a little bit better.

"It’s exciting at the moment and the feel around the club is a lot better. There’s a lot more optimism and hope and we need to keep using that on the pitch."

Not too long ago, hope was pretty thin on the ground at Hillsborough.

It is to the credit of Danny Rohl and his staff and players that there are discernible signs of progress and positivity from the pits of despair in mid-autumn.

Defiance too, with a siege mentality growing. Again, it is not too dissimilar from Vaulks’s experiences at Rotherham.

The in-form midfield anchor continued: “It’s probably going that way a little bit more now with what has gone on over the course of the last however many games and the summer and what have you. I think it is starting to feel like that siege mentality, which to me is a good thing.

"It’s really harnessed the desire to win and makes us 'together' as a team. I think the more that you can do it, the better actually. It keeps everything in-house and gets the fans on our side.

"They have been outstanding and unbelievable with what they have had to watch and what they have been through with the changes.

"The support that they have given, despite some really difficult and disappointing results, has made me proud to play for this football club."