Sheffield Wednesday: Why Jos Luhukay believes Atdhe Nuhiu will be scoring for the Owls again soon

The giant centre-forward ended last season with a flourish, scoring nine times in eight games, but has been on target only once in this campaign.

However, manager Jos Luhukay says the 29-year-old, who signed a new two-year contract in the summer and is a likely starter against Stoke City tomorrow, has the strength of character to come through his barren spell.

"He struggled a little bit in the first games, as did the whole team," said Luhukay.

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"But Atdhe always comes back. He is a strong, positive character. In all the years he has been here, he has always fought and had a good mentality to help the team."

The Owls head into the home clash on the back of three straight league victories after taking only a point from their opening three matches.

Nuhiu hit the target in the opening-day 3-2 defeat at Wigan Athletic, where he was sent off late on for two bookable offences, and hasn't registered for his club since, although he was on the mark for Kosovo in a 2-0 Nations League triumph over the Faroe Islands in midweek.

Luhukay, whose team are up to 11th in the table, is hoping that strike will re-ignite the frontman's form.

"It always gives strikers a good feeling when they score a goal," the boss said. "We have a good feeling and are very positive about Atdhe in the last games. 

"We are happy that he has come back fit. He is for an important player in the next games that we have."

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The Potters encounter is Wednesday's first outing after the international and comes a fortnight after they registered their first away victory, 2-1 at Reading. Nuhui has a chance to make the score 3-0 after the break at the Madejski Stadium but was foiled by Royals goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

"Atdhe worked unbelievably hard against Reading and he had only one good chance to score in the second half," Luhukay added. "I hoped for him he could score that third goal."

The Owls could have new loan signings centre-half Michael Hector and midfielder Josh Onomah in their squad after the pair returned unscathed from international duty and trained with their new teammates for the first time yesterday.

Missing from the 18 on duty at Reading will be attacker Fernando Forestieri, who begins a three-match ban, and injured midfielder Sam Hutchinson.

Stoke were in the Premier League last season and have yet to adapt to life in the division below, winning only once in the league and occupying 18th spot.