Sheffield Wednesday: We only want fighters here, says Carlos Carvalhal

Speaking after the Owls’ comfortable 3-0 friendly win over League One side Port Vale at Hillsborough yesterday, Carvalhal told The Star: “To play our brand at Sheffield Wednesday, you must be a fighter.

“If you are not a fighter, you don’t have any chance to play for us. It is our brand so we must be careful with all the players that we bring that they adapt to us. It is not Sheffield Wednesday who will adapt to the players.”

Daniel Pudil, who spent last year on loan at Wednesday, and attacking midfielder Almen Abdi joined Carvalhal’s revolution last week.

“It is easy for Daniel Pudil because he has played for us one year,” said Carvalhal. “Abdi is a good character, a team worker and will adapt very easily to the way we play.”

The Owls have so far brought in four new faces as they look to build on their sixth-placed finish last time around.

Carvalhal said: “It is not easy but the chairman has done very well with our business. We are not crazy in the market. We are improving the team with responsibility.

“We need more players but we are ready for the competition. We will try to bring them as soon as possible.

“I remember last season and we were not playing at this level when we started the process. We had a new coach and philosophy. We had more problems than this season. We are better now.”

Tom Lees, Fernando Forestieri and Abdi all registered against the Valiants. Carvalhal opted to rest Sam Hutchinson but says the versatile player will be in contention to feature in their league opener with Aston Villa next weekend.

Jack Hunt and Marco Matias are expected to resume first-team training this week but striker Lucas Joao will be assessed by the club’s medical team after picking up a knock as a second half substitute.