Darren Moore spoke to the media on Friday afternoon ahead of the Owls' trip to Accrington Stanley this weekend.
Here are the key talking points from today's press conference:
ON ACCRINGTON
This will be a good challenge and a team that will play football and get the ball forward. John Coleman is a good manager with his longevity in the game and he’s someone I’ve known on the circuit for years and have the utmost respect for him.
I know the game is a sell-out again, whenever we go away the fans want to see Sheffield Wednesday. We are taking around 2,500 over there, our away following will be a credit to the club as always.
ON THE INJURY SITUATION
We have sustained a lot of injuries in the last few weeks. These injuries have affected the balance of the team so we’re looking at all the options we have that can help address that. We’ve had to make do with the bodies we have available at the time.
We do have some versatility in the squad and that is a big attribute. Callum for example has been playing extremely well wherever he’s asked to play. He’s been able to fill in where we’ve had injuries. All the positions he’s played are not alien to him from before he joined the club. People see him as a number nine but make no mistake he’s a versatile player who can play all over the field and we’re delighted to have him here.
There’s been far too many soft tissue injuries. We’ve had a detailed report and had a look at the injuries. We need to look forward and get some isokinetic training done when there’s the right opportunity, this will highlight any issues and means we can monitor everyone better going forward.
TURNING DRAWS INTO WINS
We’ve got to turn these draws into wins and that’s something we have spoken about and will continue to address until we put it right. I think the biggest issue is the ruthlessness and putting these chances away. We look at the stats against Gillingham, we had 22 attempts, we dominated the game and we only scored one goal. That’s the main frustration, getting the conversion rate right. Those stats have to change for us to turn these draws into wins.
ON PLAYERS RETURNING
We had an in-house game in midweek to give Josh and some of the others lads some minutes. To have someone of Josh’ quality back will be huge. We’ve missed him and to lose him on the eve of the season was a big loss for us. It will be like a new signing, so we’re monitoring him and his progress continues to be good.
Massimo is at the level now having completed the work required, so he’s ready to start games and we’re delighted to have him back.
With George, we’re monitoring him too to see what level he’s at and managing his match minutes will be key. When he comes back we need him to stay back, he’ll be part of the squad tomorrow.