Owls boss Jos Luhukay has paid tribute to the fans for their contribution since his arrival at Hillsborough.
The Dutchman took charge of his first game back in January – a Steel City derby no less – and has seen plenty to be encouraged by since.
Luhukay made a solid start and following a dip in form in late February, Wednesday bounced back in superb fashion, winning six of their last nine games and scoring 20 goals during that time.
Throughout the ups and downs, Luhukay has highlighted the role of the supporters and said:
“It was not easy but our fans always stayed behind the team, behind the players and that’s why I never had a nervous situation when we were seven or eight points from the bottom three.
“The fans created a lot of important situations for the team, they stayed with the players in a difficult period.
“I felt always from the first day, it wasn’t easy.
“After just two or three days we started with the derby, you have expectations for the new manager to bring new success.
“In the first two months, we had not a lot of training sessions to work on things because there was so many games to play, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, in the FA Cup and Championship.”
On the fans he added: “When you don’t play very well or you don’t get the results but the fans stay with you, I have a lot of respect for that.
“The players have shown their character and mentality on the field and the fans have done so back.
“Everybody has worked hard and I am very proud about that. We will have good preparations for the new season and we will be ready.”