Stress off the pitch for Sheffield Wednesday but let’s enjoy ourselves on it says Danny Rohl as Owls eye another late-season Championship ‘special’…
OFF the pitch, not for the first time in recent seasons, it is a bit of a stressful time for Sheffield Wednesday and their long-suffering supporters.
News broke earlier this week that the Championship club had not paid players wages in March due to a ‘temporary issue’ related to ‘significant’ monies owed to chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s businesses which has been affecting cashflow.
On the pitch at least, Wednesday have more pleasurable concerns on their minds.
After the unremitting tension of 12 months ago during their fight for Championship survival, the Owls are fighting for something more healthy.
They are among a clutch of clubs still in the mix for the final two play-off positions, which still look pretty open at the start of April.
Following defeats last time out for the sides currently in fifth and sixth place in Coventry City and West Brom, there is hope for the chasing pack, who include Wednesday, five points adrift of Albion, who occupy the final play-off spot.
The Owls welcome struggling Yorkshire rivals Hull City on Saturday an encounter when both sides will be hunting for points for very different reasons.
There may be issues behind the scenes, but on the pitch, Wednesday are still driving for something ‘special’ and it should represent a release.
Rohl said: “I think the progress is good from 24th position (upon his arrival) and now to 12th and still seven games to go.
“I have always spoken about being in touch with the play-off positions and we are in touch.
“Of course if we could wish, it would be less than (five points gap).
“We still have a chance to play for something, which is great. The gap to Preston (in 14th) means we can really be brave and that is what I want from my team.
“Attacking football, front foot and enjoying it. This is also important, especially after the last home game (against Sheffield United).
“We want to do something special. But sometimes, we miss our enjoyment of football and sometimes, we are a little bit too stressed and I think we must have a good balance.
“If we have that, I think we have a team here who can do something special.”
That fact that a number of teams with designs on the top six still have fixtures against each other before season’s end has fortified Rohl’s belief that the play-off race will go right down to the wire.
The Owls’ Yorkshire rivals Middlesbrough are among that group. They visit Hillsborough on Easter Monday.
On paper at least, Wednesday’s schedule looks handy enough and it should be encouraging given that they are not facing any more of the ‘big hitters’ between now and season’s end.
The Owls have failed to take a single point against the top four of Sheffield United, Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland in eight matches this term.
Mercifully, Wednesday have picked up a lot of points against sides at the opposite end of the league in particular.
Alongside this weekend’s visitors Hull, they host other sides at varying amounts of strife at the wrong end of the table in Oxford United and Portsmouth. They also visit another in Stoke City, while their final game of the season sees Rohl’s side head to a side in the top-six picture in Watford, in what may well be a six-pointer on May 3.
The Owls’ other game sees them play host to a Blackburn side who have lost their mojo of late under former Barnsley chief Valerien Ismael.
Despite their drop-off, Rovers are still within striking distance of the top six. Anything can still happen.
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