Sheffield Wednesday: '˜We have to stick together' says Owls star ahead of Nottingham Forest clash

Ross Wallace scored Wednesday's opener against Middlesbrough on Saturday

Wednesday travel to Nottingham Forest today languishing in 15th position on the back of a seven-match winless run.

Saturday’s home defeat to Middlesbrough was their third straight loss and proved to be Carvalhal’s final match in charge.

Speaking before Carvalhal’s exit, Wallace said: “All the coaches, players and manager are hurting in there (the dressing room).

“It is not a nice feeling. I think over the last two and a half years we have not really gone through a big, sustained patch where we have struggled a bit.

“But, to be fair, when you lose 10 of your players in the squad it is going to tell.

“We are going through a tough patch at the minute. We have to stick together and keep putting our bodies on the line.

“We need all the fans to stick with us. We are going through a tough patch at the minute but it is up to us as players to turn things around. We are the ones responsible. It is down to us to get points and wins for the club.”

Forest are two places and four points better off than the Owls in the table.

“It will be a tough game,” said Wallace, who opened the scoring against Boro. “They have strung a few results together here and there. Every game in this league is tough. They have got some good players so it is up to us. We have to dig in. It is about us now. We have to try and get players back and stick at it.

“They are a decent side but we have to dig in, do the basics and maybe try to grind out a result which will kick us on.”

Caretaker boss Lee Bullen will hope captain Glenn Loovens is fit after not featuring against Boro due to a quad injury. Morgan Fox is available for selection again, having served a one-match suspension.

Wallace acknowledged: “We are going through a tough patch at the minute. We have to stick together and keep putting our bodies on the line.

“It was great to have Hutch (Sam Hutchinson) back on Saturday. It was his first game back and he hasn’t trained a lot so he tired towards the end.

“If we can get a few bodies back over the Christmas period and get a win, then hopefully we can kick on.”