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Irvine waits for truth to unfold
ALAN Irvine believes that a reliable picture has yet to emerge about the strengths and weaknesses of teams in League One.
He will be more convinced after 10 games about which sides are likely to rival his Owls team for promotion and which could struggle.
That is one of the reasons why he dismisses any suggestion that Sunday's bottom v top match at Brentford (kick-off noon) could be unchallenging for his team after a 5-0 demolition of Hartlepool in their previous league game.
"People will say it's bottom against top but we've all only played four games," he says. "I don't think it's time to say which teams are really bang in form and are which are struggling for form. It will take a while before the league sorts itself out."
He feels that results over only four games could give a misleading overall picture.
"It's a false situation," he reckoned. "It does take probably 10 games before things to start to work themselves out."
But he is also happy with the Owls' improving form and pleased to be top of the table, joking "I wish there were only four games left!
"All of the games that do remain will require a lot of hard work and preparation."
His usual, meticulous pre-match planning meant a trip to Stevenage on Tuesday to watch Brentford though it was only a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie.
Brentford won 1-0 with a goal by Robbie Simpson, his fourth of the season.
"They probably fielded a different team from the one that will play us," said Irvine. "Simpson played up front rather than off the right hand side. It wasn't as good a game as ours (against Notts County)but it was a good game played at a good tempo.
"Brentford have some threats. They scored a terrific goal. They have a couple of players who are difficult to deal with.
"The fact that it's on television gives it another dimension. There's an extra in jection of adrenalin. You see quite a lot of strange results in games that are on television. We have to make sure we're ready."
Irvine says he has a mixed record in televised matches: "When I was at Everton we only got on when we were playing Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. It was difficult to win some of those. We won some."
The Owls boss will want his players to follow orders exactly as they did at Hartlepool in last week's 5-0 win.
He was a little concerned that in the Notts County match the visitors' goal stemmed from what he regarded as shaky defending, and the scorer was from a player whose ability at set-pieces had been identified beforehand.
But he will also look for more of the flowing, attacking football that unhinged both Hartlepool and County.
Irvine has given Jon Otsemobor, Daniel Jones, James O'Connor and Clinton Morrison their due in praising their performances after their call-ups for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy 2-1 win, and said he has food for thought before he picks Sunday's team.
But, if everybody is fit, he must be expected to go with the line-up that drubbed Hartlepool. That would mean on-form, three-goal Neil Mellor taking over from Morrison, three-goal Coke coming in for O'Connor, Tommy Spurr reclaiming the left-back spot from Jones, and Lewis Buxton coming back in at right-back for Otsemobor.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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