Darren Moore gives Sheffield Wednesday XI hint with glowing Liam Palmer answer

The Wednesday vice-captain played a starring role in their second leg comeback win over Peterborough United, netting the instantly iconic fourth while expertly playing a hybrid defence and midfield role for the first time.

Owls manager Darren Moore told The Star ahead of Monday’s final: “Liam Palmer playing in that position wasn’t him just being plucked and put in, it was Liam Palmer that over the course of the season, along with other players, has been playing in that position being drilled and practising in training.

“It’s about working on that and making sure that when it is put into practice in a match situation, they are clinical and they are consistent. He showed that and it was great for him.

“We’ve seen the season he’s had for us so far in both boxes. The level of consistency.

“It’s credit to Liam that he was able to do it, he’s intelligent enough, he’s a good footballer and we never thought for a moment he couldn’t do the job that he did – he did it really well.”

The magnitude of the performance has prompted questions over whether Palmer could be kept in the role this weekend. Barnsley are a team that have won plenty of games through the performances of their midfield three and will need to be kept on a leash should the Owls do the business under the arch.

“It’s horses for courses,” Moore continued. “I’ve said that since I arrived here.

“There are certain players where you might think they play a certain position and are best in a certain position, but there are certain players that can rotate and play in different positions and sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the team.

“It’s not Liam Palmer on his own, there are a multitude of players in this team that can do that for us and it’s something I’ve always applied since I became a manager.

“I look at players, I know their number one position, looking at other positions and expressing that to the players adopting them to different positions.”