Sheffield Wednesday will be back strong next season says departing Wallace

Wednesday finished the 2017/18 campaign in 15th position after recording an impressive six wins from their last nine matches.

And Wallace, an integral member of the Owls side who qualified for back-to-back play-offs, says reaching the top-six has to be the minimum target.

The popular Scot told The Star: “The team have been outstanding in the last couple of months. A few players who were out in the cold have come in and looked a million dollars.

“It’s up to them to come back next season and have a good pre-season. They will be in good shape next season.

“The top six has to be the minimum target. We should have been challenging for the top six this year but we had a lot of injuries in large parts of the season.

“The last few months have shown that we would have been right up there if everyone had been fit. You need your best players on the park and we never had our best players.

“We had Barry [Bannan] and Fernando [Forestieri] missing large chunks of the season and they are big, important players who can win matches.”

Along with club captain Glenn Loovens, Wallace was given a guard of honour by his teammates and the backroom squad following Sunday’s 5-1 thumping of Norwich City.

“It was an emotional day,” admitted Wallace. “I have had some good times at the club and enjoyed the last three years.

“The fans have been great with me. They have been outstanding. They expect players to graft and work hard on the pitch and hopefully I showed that.”

Wallace has also paid tribute to Loovens, saying: “Glenn has been outstanding and one of the best captains I’ve worked under.

“Everything he does is for the players. He genuinely wants the best for every single one of us and for the club. His heart is in the right place. He’s just a lovely big fella.”