Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl has encouraged his team to take a ‘big step forward’ as they host Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, with a 3:00pm kick-off.
Saturday’s fixture will have some way to go to mirror the drama of last season’s, which saw Anthony Musaba’s 94th minute winner send the Hillsborough faithful wild with delight in a relegation six-pointer.
The Owls come into this match aiming to arrest a slump in league form since they went top on the opening day of the season, while QPR will look to extend their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions.
Following the international break, Wednesday sit 20th with three points from their opening four games, while their visitors from West London are two points better off in 12th.
At Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl said that he was confident his team would deliver a much improved performance after three straight league defeats.
Rohl said: “In the last games, our performance was not what I demand [or] what I want to see, especially against Millwall.
“I want to see a team who is trying and who is working hard, with the right attitude and the right mindset from the first minute, to the end.”
A number of Sheffield Wednesday players are question marks after arriving relatively late back from the international break, including defender Di’Shon Bernard and forward Jamal Lowe, who both featured for Jamaica.
This has left Wednesday short of centre-backs, with summer signing Nathaniel Chalobah also out.
Nevertheless, Rohl was buoyant and insisted he was focusing on the future, rather than dwelling on the recent poor results.
He said: “It’s not the right moment to look too much in the wrong direction.
“I’m convinced that we will make a huge step forward on Saturday.”
QPR manager Marti Cifuentes, meanwhile, said: “What we need to get better at is constituency where the opposition is creating some form of momentum.
“The best way to do this is to understand areas we need to improve, using the ball.”
Cifuentes also praised forward Michael Frey, who is Rangers top scorer so far this season, having scored three in five appearances in all competitions.
Keep up with all of the action on Saturday, on the Forge Press website, and across Forge Sport’s social media platforms.
Featured image credit: Kivo via Wikimedia Commons
