Sheffield Wednesday seek right blend to fire up promotion challenge

The Owls were devastating at times in Carvalhal’s first season in charge but the attacking, and at times naive, play came at a price, with defeats against teams at the lower end of the Championship table.

Then last season, Carvalhal changed tack and went for a more pragmatic approach which saw Wednesday battle for points but without the swashbuckling dynamism of the Portuguese head coach’s maiden campaign.

The Owls were criticised by some fans for their performances last season, many of which were devoid of entertainment, and now the emphasis is on finding a blend of attacking football and scrupulous defending.

“I think last season we didn’t play as good as football as we wanted to,” admitted midfielder Barry Bannan. “But teams came out to stop us.

“It is hard to keep playing that attractive football but hopefully we can find a mix next season.

“We won games ugly. Hopefully we get off to a good start and strengthen the squad.”

The Owls are expected to kick off their recruitment in the next two weeks.

Central defence is at the core of their targets but a wide player is also on the list. The latest player linked with a move is Scottish winger Oliver Burke at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. Owls: P26/27