Darren Moore explains ‘48-hour’ system switch and reveals injuries to key duo after Bolton Wanderers win

The Owls started in a fresh system with three at the back, which was switched at half-time with a double substitution that saw Lewis Gibson and Sam Hutchinson removed.

Speaking after the game Owls boss Darren Moore explained that both players had fallen foul to injury. The pair have both only recently recovered from knocks.

Giving credit to his players, he also explained that the side had implemented the 3-5-2 system in 48 hours having had their week shortened due to the midweek cup win over Mansfield. A half-time shift back to four at the back was due to those injuries.

Asked whether his side’s performance was of any concern, Moore said: “I don’t worry about the performance because we had 48 hours to work and from a trained eye I saw the players doing good things.

“When you go against what happened at half-time, you have two of your major players that came off, two major players in terms of the system, that’s what I’m disappointed with, losing those two.

“They’re big players for us, so there are mixed emotions, not so much for the performance but with losing those two players.”

Moore said he felt Bolton were the best team they’ve played this season and commented on their settled squad and style of play.

On the injuries to Gibson and Hutchinson, Moore said it was too early to offer any clarity on what was the issue.

“It’s early days for me to give any prognosis on those two and so we’ll have to see on Monday how they shape up,” he said.

“They’re muscle injuries. I’ll have a look on Monday and see what the medical team says to me but they couldn’t carry on. To lose those two at the time disrupted the game plane and the rhythm. I had more attacking players on the bench and at the 70 minute mark I wanted to bring them on.

“I wasn’t able to do that so we had to shuffle the pack and play as we did.

“Credit to the boys. The job this week was to win the game on Tuesday and win the game on Saturday.”