Sheffield Wednesday: Why Mick McCarthy is surprised to see Owls struggling

McCarthy’s Ipswich side head to Hillsborough tomorrow night looking to inflict a fifth straight loss on Wednesday in all competitions.

The Owls, who reached the play-offs in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, have won just one of Jos Luhukay’s nine league matches in charge and are currently in 17th position, 11 points behind 13th-placed Ipswich.

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McCarthy said: “Getting in the play-offs and losing can have a real devastating effect on teams. I thought it was brilliant they did it twice. They recovered the first time and then lost again.

“I don’t know if people lose faith in it or stop what they are doing. Maybe people start to look for a change.

“Sometimes getting in the play-offs and losing can really impact on teams but I am surprised (where they are) because look at the strikers they’ve got. They’ve got [Atdhe] Nuhiu, who scored against us, Lucas Joao, Jordan Rhodes. [Fernando] Forestieri and [Gary] Hooper.

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“They had all these strikers that they were playing and they looked a real threat.

“They’ve had a pretty big budget Sheffield Wednesday. They have spent and invested heavily so I expected them to be better than they are.”

McCarthy also denied Ipswich tried to sign Jordan Rhodes on loan on January transfer deadline-day. Rhodes began his career at Portman Road.

When quizzed on Ipswich’s reported late approach for the striker, McCarthy said: “No, not really. We asked about loads of people but I wouldn’t tell you who we did and who we didn’t that’s for certain.”

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