Danny Röhl makes feelings plain over form of Sheffield Wednesday man after Sheffield United shutout

The Owls were not able to create much in the way of clear goal scoring opportunities in a scrappy 1-0 defeat in which Tyrese Campbell’s 50th-minute goal was the only shot on target for either side. Ugbo, who signed on at Hillsborough on a permanent basis in the summer after shunning interest from other Championship clubs, led the line up top for the away side but was largely side lined in possession in a game most players struggled for fluency, registering 16 touches in his 75 minutes before Röhl sought to introduce Anthony Musaba.

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Ugbo is a player who offers plenty off the ball but has not yet broken his Championship goal duck this season. Speaking post-match, the Wednesday boss made clear his feelings on his striker’s continued pursuit of a goal when faced with a reporter’s questions - and refused any notion of singling out Ugbo for criticism in a side not creating a mass of chances.

“No,” Röhl said sharply when asked whether Ugbo’s goal record was a concern. “Because I saw in the last games that he played that he had more and more moments. The moment will come, I trust him and I believe in him. You can speak about him, him, him, for me it is a step forward in his moment. His moment will come and then it will be easier to speak about him.

“If you count our chances together you see that only one of our guys had a chance today, it was just Musa (Musaba) in this one situation. It was not about Ike Ugbo or anything like this, it was how much we created as a team. Neither team created anything if you look to the data, it was 0.57 to 0.6 xG, it means there was really nothing.”

Röhl made a flurry of second half changes aimed at climbing back into the game, with attacking figures Michael Smith, Djeidi Gassama, Pol Valentin, Jamal Lowe and Musaba all introduced. A dominant Blades defensive effort ultimately saw out the clash. Wednesday finished the game pushing for an equaliser.

The Owls boss said: “We changed straight after the 1-0 to bring in a second striker and a winger, then you have to look at the story of the game - you cannot go all-in after 55 minutes. It was also clear that then we put in the next offensive guys, Musa immediately had a chance and then we brought in an offensive full-back in Pol. You have to make it step-by-step, level-by-level. The impact was there but it was not enough to come back.”