Matter-of-fact Danny Röhl on what Sheffield Wednesday must do to survive after Middlesbrough rollicking

That was the matter-of-fact response of Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Röhl when asked whether he felt his side could rally-back from the despair of their lacklustre defeat at Middlesbrough, 58 days on from a hammering at Huddersfield Town that kickstarted their best run of the campaign.

Early February defeat in West Yorkshire extended the gap on the safety spots to eight points before a frank meeting between players and coaches, The Star was told. A run of five wins in six matches followed and put Wednesday back to within fighting distance of survival.

But a run of one point from a possible 12 since that run has pushed momentum in the opposite direction and after a 2-0 defeat at Boro that saw Röhl publicly question the effort of his players, the task is once again set to go on a similar run of form.

"You always want to take something," Röhl told The Star post-match. "I am surprised about the way it happened. Middlesbrough are a good team, they are doing well. But to come here and take something, we had to do more and it was a big, big issue today.

"Now it's up to us to show again a reaction. For me it is really hard to take such a thing. I demand for my team always to do the basics and if it is not enough (to take a result) then it's OK. But in ball losing situations in the midfield and in transitions, we speak always about decision-making. We must go forward as a team and we must defend as a team. We didn't do that and it is hard to take."