Sheffield Wednesday: Jacob Butterfield has the drive to be a key man for Owls

Not many come to the club and hit the ground running immediately, though some take longer than others to slot into the style of play that Carlos Carvalhal has created at Hillsborough.

Part of the reason is that some players arrive having been out of the picture at their previous clubs, or at best seldom used.

That has led to various players coming in and just not ‘getting it’ quickly enough to make any sort of impact and they drift away.

Others take a little time to find their feet but once they do, the reason for them coming in the first place becomes apparent.

Jacob Butterfield falls into the latter category.

The loanee from Derby County was a somewhat surprising arrival at Hillsborough at the end of the transfer window, with Sam Winnall heading in the opposite direction.

Wednesday weren’t exactly short of central midfielders anyway and to some it appeared to be just adding another for the sake of it.

Now, Butterfield could end up playing a pivotal role in Wednesday season.

A few substitute appearances and a full game in the defeat at Birmingham hardly gave anyone the opportunity to draw any judgement.

But according to Carvalhal, the work was being done behind the scenes to get the 27 year-old up to speed with a new way of playing.

Two excellent performances later, the one against Aston Villa arguably one of the best by any Wednesday player this season, suggests that Butterfield has more than found his feet and added an aspect that the head coach felt was missing from the team.

“He was not playing much at Derby this season,” said Carvalhal.

“When he comes some criticise, ‘why is he coming because he is not playing’ and now he is completely adapted because he shows his abilities in the last game.

“He’s a very good central midfielder, he controls the game well.

“He’s technically very good, he’s aggressive now and we needed that, he passes well with both feet and he’s a player with a very good quality.

“The midfielders are all at the same level, I can’t say that one is better than they other, even though they have different abilities.

“We are very happy with him.

“He can control the rhythm of the game.

“He knows how to go through the gears. If you have someone in midfield who plays all the time in first gear or fifth gear, then they maybe crash the car. He knows exactly which speed to play.”