Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City: Midweek test a chance to bounce back, says Danny Rohl

It will be a period in the season when the details will really matter, in terms of getting match planning and minutes, rest and recovery sessions and many other facets absolutely on point.

Little ‘breaks’ along the way might just help as well.

After Saturday’s home loss to Burnley, Owls head coach Danny Rohl is grateful for the fact that his players have an immediate chance to atone, in terms of the result, on home soil against Swansea City just three days on.

The German’s gratitude at having another game at Hillsborough so quickly does not exclusively revolve around the very fact.

It will also aid in terms of preparation, with the Owls - since Rohl arrived at the club - having not exactly been helped by the fixture planners in terms of itinerary.

Successive away games in the space of under 72 hours just before the last international break at Bristol City and Coventry is a recent case in point.

Rohl said: “I think it’s nice to have two home games in a row in such a week.

“Of course, you don’t have to travel and can use this time for recovery and at home. Our fans recognised we invested a lot until the end, which is good and what we want to show.

“I got the feeling in the dressing room that some heads were down, but the next day, we move on to prepare. It is a good thing when you play with a midweek game, you have a chance to do things better.”

Given Wednesday’s upcoming schedule, Rohl acknowledges that the need to manage players’ workloads will come to the fore in particular.

On Saturday, he replaced key midfield duo Barry Bannan and Shea Charles early on in the final quarter, with one eye clearly on Tuesday’s game.

Getting the amount of match minutes on point for players and fully utilising his squad is something that Rohl is big on and getting that right could well have a decisive bearing on Wednesday’s season.

Rohl, who could welcome back Josh Windass this evening, continued: “The message to my team (before Burnley) was that the Coventry game was not just a win with three points, but a win for the squad.

“Because with five rotations, we could be competitive away and I think this was helpful.

“We will need fresh legs again in some positions and we will not be able to train and prepare so much.

“Of course, you always have in your mind when you make subs that it could be helpful to protect some players for 20 minutes. I think that after 70 minutes, you come to a point and feel this and it was the point on Saturday.

“Even when we subbed some players, we kept going with fresh legs and maybe there was a new idea for some players who maybe had the moment to create something different and we changed the shape to a back four and then with two strikers with Jamal (Lowe) and Smudge (Michael Smith) in front.

“Of course, we tried, but every game has a new story.”

Despite Wednesday’s modest league placing after 10 matches, Rohl, for his part, has been relatively pleased with the majority of team performances.

But if his side are to develop and grow, improvements will be needed in the second half of the autumn and winter.

Rohl added: “We had one (bad) game and that was Millwall for me.

"We know where Leeds are and you saw their game (on Friday) how outstandingly they performed. All the games; QPR, Luton, West Brom, Bristol (City), Coventry and Burnley, the performance was right.

"If that is, I don’t like to lose, but I can recognise why and that our way is the right direction.

“But to come to the next level, we have to improve again and again."