Irvine warning to Sheffield Wednesday

The Owls have won two games out of two since Irvine's appointment and will be looking to maintain the 100 per cent record against rock bottom Peterborough United this weekend.

Irvine, however, is keen to stress that his managerial reign is still in its 'honeymoon period' and any prolonged success will only be achieved by maintaining high standards.

"Getting out of the bottom three is a massive boost for the players," he said. "But we cannot afford to take our foot of the pedal now. We have had two fantastic away results and now we have a hard game at home against Peterborough.

"There is always a danger that people will think this is an 'easy' game because they are bottom of the table but anyone can beat anyone in this division."

Victory away at Blackpool on Tuesday night followed a victory at Barnsley last weekend and not since August had the Owls enjoyed back-to-back wins in the Championship.

"I don't know what has made the difference. It could quite simply be a change of voice and a new face?" said Irvine, modestly. "It's a fantastic start and the lads deserve enormous credit for the way they have gone about their work in the two games and the training sessions.

"There has been a little bit of change in our approach but it is still early days and this might just be the honeymoon period," he added. "We have to have the same tempo, shape, and discipline in our game in order to win enough games to stay in this division."

Irvine set a target of 53 points to avoid the drop which means the Owls still need another nine wins and a draw from the remaining 21 games of the season

"It's not an easy job. It is a massive job. We are still having to look an awful way up to where we want to be and clearly we have a lot of hard work to do to get there."

The Owls suffered the first serious injury blow of Irvine's reign at Blackpool when Jermaine Johnson pulled up with a hamstring strain.

It remains to be seen whether the Jamaican will be sidelined long term but he is unlikely to play in Saturday's game.

That will open the door for striker Leon Clarke, who replaced Johnson at Bloomfield Road and scored the decisive second goal.

Irvine added: "I've lost count of the number of people who have said they were shocked by Preston's decision to let me go.

"I was myself, obviously, but at the end of the day these things happen. I know my own views on the matter, but I'm biased!

"We've had two fantastic away results but we've got to make sure we continue it at home now and win enough games to stay in this division."

On loan midfielder Tom Soares, meanwhile, has expressed a desire to extend his stay with the Owls.

Soares is due to play the final game of his existing deal against Peterborough but Irvine is now talking with Stoke City manager Tony Pulis about the player's future.

"Hopefully, I can stay a little longer. We will have to wait and see," Soares told the Yorkshire Post. "We showed against Blackpool that we are good enough to stay up and hopefully finish in a good mid-table spot.

"The new manager has made a massive difference – he has brought a spark to the club and we are looking better organised and better disciplined which is good. Every game is massive now if we want to climb the table."

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