Clear admission made over Sheffield Wednesday's January transfer priorities

The Owls are locked in the Championship relegation zone, nine points adrift of safety and with growing problems in the injury stakes with Callum Paterson having suffered concussion in Tuesday evening's defeat at Coventry City.

Röhl's side drew a blank for the first time in eight matches, a run of form that saw them achieve a seven-match scoring streak in Championship football for the first time since 2019. That said, there is frustration from all levels at the side's inability to finish chances at vital stages of games, particularly given the fact that opposition teams appear to be doing so. Back to back defeats against Cardiff City and Coventry appeared all the more galling in that both sides scored twice to win matches in which they hadn't created a great deal of opportunity.

Their latest effort left Röhl frustrated at what prompted him to say: "It's the same words since I arrived here; the two boxes are the dangerous and important areas and this is where we have to improve."

With the winter window opening in a few days and the German having spoken a number of times about a 'clear plan' he has to implement a mid-season turnover in personnel despite what is routinely a 'difficult month' to do business, it is expected that fresh firepower up top will be a central priority. It's something that Röhl confirmed with little room for ambiguity.

"I think we know this," he told BBC Sheffield when asked whether a striker was top of his shopping list. "We need in front some players that have maybe really the quality to finish. This is in the whole team and you can see this is a team that is able to compare with our opponents. I have never seen a game since I arrive here that we weren't in the game, OK maybe you look back and maybe Millwall, but in this game we had many chances. This is the good point, we can face every opponent but also to take something we need everything and we must be much more clinical in both boxes."