Taylor looks to resilient Wednesday to get better of Barnsley

captain Martin Taylor is desperate for Sheffield Wednesday to end 2012 out of the Championship relegation drop zone.

The Owls are second-bottom heading into this Saturday’s South Yorkshire derby with fellow strugglers Barnsley.

This has heaped pressure on manager Dave Jones, with just two wins from 18 league matches, and many expect him to draft in much-needed reinforcements during the January transfer window.

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But with four Championship games left between now and the end of the year, defender Taylor believes the current Owls squad can deliver the points.

“We’ve got four matches between now and the end of the year, which we feel are all winnable, starting with Barnsley on Saturday,” said Taylor, signed by Jones on transfer deadline day in August from Watford.

“Things can change very quickly in this division.

“It’s not nice to be down there, but once the questions have been asked and put to bed, we start to focus on the next match.

“The lads will be up for it and we’re under no illusions of how important the match is. We’re quite a resilient bunch.”

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After the trip to Barnsley, Wednesday host Charlton (22nd) at Hillsborough before trips to Bolton on Boxing Day and Huddersfield Town (29th)

But first comes the derby at Oakwell in front of the Sky cameras. With 18 points, Barnsley occupy the third relegation spot – three points better off than Wednesday – and the same points as Bristol City.

But after that, Ipswich are in 20th place – eight points better off than the Owls – so there is a danger the bottom four could be cut adrift.

“Of course this is a big game, it’s a local derby,” said Taylor.

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“We always take each game as it comes and prepare in the right manner but there is no hiding away from how big this game is.

“We’re motivated for every match but derbies always have that little bit extra about them. We are all looking forward to the game and the pressures that come with it.”

Barnsley were unlucky not to take all three points at Leicester last weekend. Stephen Dawson, who was on target against the Foxes in a 2-2 draw, knows they face a battle on Saturday.

“We’ve stuck together and we believe in what we’re trying to do,” said the midfielder.

“Every game is massive for us. Hopefully we can turn things around and start to push up this league.”