Manager: Maintain the momentum

Manager has high hopes ahead of Saturday's clash with the Owls

Dougie Freedman is confident that his side can capitalise on their win against Birmingham last time out by securing their first home victory of the season against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.

Wanderers welcome their Yorkshire counterparts to the Reebok Stadium on the back of an impressive result at St Andrew’s a fortnight ago, while Dave Jones’ Wednesday side have failed to win any of their opening ten games.

Despite the Owls’ testing situation of late however, the manager believes that Saturday’s clash will be one where his team cannot afford to underestimate the opposition.

“The games are very tight in this division and they are often settled on one or two goals maximum, so we will treat the Sheffield Wednesday game as we do any other,” he said in his pre-match press conference.

“They’ve got one or two fantastic players in their team and Dave Jones knows what he’s doing. 

“We’ve got to make sure we approach it in the right way and maintain the intensity that we play with at home and hopefully we’ll get the result that the performances have merited over the past few home games.”

With the Whites’ recent loan acquisitions now settled into life at the Reebok, the manager explained the importance of bringing fresh faces into the club when opportunities arise.

“Change is good sometimes, especially with players - sometimes you can get it where the squad becomes a little stale and it’s also good for the fans as well.

“A couple of players left in the summer and we replaced them, but we’ve also brought in the three loan signings which have done very well for us.

“Unfortunately we only have one game a week for the next month, but then we go into the very busy period of December where last season we didn’t really have the squad rotation to do well over the Christmas period.

“I remember us playing well but not picking up the points, so I’m going to make sure that we’ve got a good strong squad to rotate because that is key.

“The players have got that little bit of competition now which is great – people are now under pressure for places and nobody is guaranteed their spot which I think is healthy.”

He added: “We have a full strength squad which is very good for us – we’re in a different place to where we were a couple of weeks ago so I think if we can maintain the performances which we’ve shown and take one or two opportunities when they come our way, then we’ll have enough to win the game.”
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