Danny Röhl's focused Sheffield Wednesday pitch challenge laid out - shrugs off Watford swipe

The pockmarked S6 pitch drew sharp criticism from Watford boss Valerian Ismael who watched his team concede the best of the match against Wednesday in the last match there, commenting in his post-match press engagement: "I’m very pleased to be going back home to play on a proper pitch, to play football."

The pitch had been heavily used after a fierce run of home matches coincided with the team having to train at the stadium with freezing weather having rendered their Middlewood Road facilities unworkable. Speaking to The Star late last week, Röhl made clear he hoped a 10-day recuperation period afforded to S6 by back-to-back away matches would make a difference, along with generous conditions.

Besides, he said positively, Wednesday were able to perform on the pitch and will be desperate to better their Watford showing with what would be a monumentally important three points against Birmingham.

"Hopefully we have some good weather with the sun and some rain and get the grass to grow," he said. "We had a period in January where the grass was very poor and frozen, we trained on the pitch and there was games, games, games. It is not perfect but even in this situation you saw my team try to play. I heard someone say it was not possible to play football on this surface but from our side we tried and we showed we can do it. Sometimes you might need not one touch but a second touch. We adapted very well."

Concerns have been raised over the heaviness of the pitch and how it may have impacted a dip in intensity, with running data having nosedived from a very high standard from Watford to defeat at Huddersfield four days on. Whatever the conditions, Röhl laid down a challenge to his players to focus on their jobs regardless of any less-than-perfect realities.

Akes about Ismael's pointed comments, Röhl said: "For me, it is not important what somebody else says about this. It's about what we did, we played football and created chances. I looked back and it was a good game from our side. Our job is not to focus too much on the environments and whether they are good, our job is to focus on what we can improve, what we can make and our performance. This is what I demand from our players and everybody that is here."