Alan Irvine spoke of mixed reactions following the Owls' 2-0 friendly defeat against local rivals Barnsley at Oakwell on Tuesday.

Wednesday went down to goals either side of half time by Martin Devaney and Goran Lovre but Irvine is far from disheartened going into Saturday's final pre-season clash with Doncaster.

He said: "I thought Barnsley started the game the better side but we finished the game comfortably, particularly in defence.

"At half time, I told the players to be more relaxed on the ball and play with more confidence and they responded.

"We dominated periods of the second half playing a high tempo game but then they scored the second goal."

The Owls have drawn one and lost three from their last four summer friendlies but Irvine is not overly concerned as the countdown continues towards the 2010/11 campaign.

However, the Wednesday manager did stress he would much rather enter the habit of winning sooner rather than later.

He added: "How many times have we seen teams lose some pre-season games and then win when the real ball comes out? And the other way round as well.

"But, of course, I would much rather we were winning games than losing because I never like to lose any game of football."