Sheffield Wednesday: We're getting more street smart says Ross Wallace

Wednesday are looking to make it a fourth consecutive away trip without defeat when they visit Derby County this afternoon.

Winger Wallace believes the upturn is down to Wednesday becoming a little more street smart on their travels.

This includes foregoing the usual emphasis on possession play in order to operate on the counter-attack, as they did with real success at Huddersfield Town earlier this month.

“I think we’ve got the hang of it now,” Wallace said.

“We’ve played some good stuff, even away from home and even at Huddersfield who’d been doing so well at their place.

“The good thing is we can play a different style.

“Against Huddersfield, we played on the counter-attack and we probably created the better chances in the game.

“It is just a case of being cuter.

“We had to bring Huddersfield onto us. The more we could bring them in, the more space we had in behind for Fernando Forestieri and Gary Hooper.

“We have learned to be a bit cuter.

“Obviously teams think we’re sitting in with two banks of four and just defending, but we are doing that for a reason.

“We are wanting teams to come on to us so we can get in behind. We’ve got players who can do it.”

Wednesday showed incredible tactical discipline at the John Smith’s Stadium, allowing Huddersfield to keep possession in their own half but launching into a quick press whenever they crossed the half way line.

Wallace’s introduction off the bench in the second half marked Wednesday moving a little more onto the front foot and they punished the hosts, who had previously won all their games on home soil.

The Owls could face a similar test at the iPro Stadium this afternoon, following Steve McClaren’s return to Derby earlier this month. McClaren’s previous Derby side had plenty of success with a possession-based approach.

Derby currently sit just two points outside the relegation zone having won just three times this term, scoring only seven times in 14 matches.

But Wallace does not expect them to remain at the wrong end of the table for much longer.

He said: “It’ll be a tough game.

“With Steve McClaren coming back in, he will get them going again. They were a good side last year.

“He’s a proven manager in this league. Him and Derby seem to be a good fit so it’ll be tough, but I’m looking forward to it.

“We are confident we can beat them.”