- Stuart Gray to take charge of 50th game
- Head coach will reach landmark figure at Brentford
- Gray wants Owls to bounce back at Griffin Park
Owls head coach Stuart Gray will take charge of his 50th game tomorrow as Wednesday face Brentford in the Sky Bet Championship.
Tuesday 3 December in the home clash with Leicester was where Gray began his reign at the Hillsborough helm.
And the Owls made a strong start by posting three much-needed points in the 2-1 win against the Foxes, who went on to be crowned league champions.
Connor Wickham bagged two goals on that night at Hillsborough and scored the winning goal away at Watford less than two weeks later, when the Owls claimed their first away victory and clean sheet of the season.
As Wednesday sought Championship safety, Gray oversaw a terrific beginning to 2014 as Wednesday went 11 games without defeat.
The highlight of the unbeaten January was the outstanding 6-0 win over Leeds United – aired to the nation live on Sky Sports.
Following Wednesday’s comfortable passage in the FA Cup at Rochdale, Gray was confirmed as the full time head coach after a string of impressive results in the interim period.
The run towards the end of the 2013/14 campaign saw Wednesday steer well clear of relegation trouble – no mean feat given the first win of the campaign didn’t arrive until November.
After a strong pre-season programme, the Owls made an excellent start to 2014/15, upsetting the odds to triumph 1-0 at Brighton.
Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Griffin Park, Gray reflected on his 49 previous games and said:
“I feel honoured and privileged to be the head coach of Sheffield Wednesday.
“I think 50 games in this job is a long time anyway but obviously the most important thing tomorrow is that we get a positive result.
“While it is an achievement, I always remind the players they are only as good as their last game and our last performance wasn’t good enough so we know what we have to do.”