Danny Röhl delivers crystal clear message - no charity for slacking Sheffield Wednesday players

That’s the crystal clear message from Owls boss Danny Röhl, who speaking ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup trip to Coventry City spoke about the importance of earning a shirt in any Wednesday game. Off the back of a gruelling December schedule in which his side rose to the outskirts of the mid-season play-off conversation, it was suspected that Röhl would use the Coventry trip to rest swathes of his first team squad and welcome some of the more fringe figures into the side.

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But he maintained in his pre-match press conference that he will name a stronger side than many expected, delivering a message to those challenging for a place. With no midweek game in recent days and an eight-day break to the next match - a short-distance away trip to Leeds United on Sunday January 19 - his hint was that the bulk of his first-string would line up in Warwickshire. No spot will be handed out for the sake of it.

“I will be honest with you,” Röhl said. “To play a game for Sheffield Wednesday you have to deserve it. It is about being good in training and in matches - and then you have a chance to play.

“What I will not do is to give some gifts or presents to some players just to get minutes, it is about deserving to play during the week from your training sessions. I said this, I want to win this game. We had a long week with no midweek game, next week again is a long week. There is no reason to rest players. We will go there with a strong team.”

Only three players are expected to miss the Coventry clash through injury. Akin Famewo’s recovery from a long-term in injury continues while Röhl ruled Dominic Iorfa out for around eight weeks after he hobbled out of their draw with Millwall at the weekend. Marvin Johnson is unlikely to start, but hasn’t been ruled out of a place on the bench.