‘Devastated’ - Jamie Smith talks Darren Moore’s potential return and Sheffield Wednesday’s dwindling survival hopes

The Owls were hit with a sucker punch by Nigel Pearson’s Bristol City at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon, with Tyreeq Bakinson scoring in the 87th minute after Wednesday had dominated the game against 10 men and also missed a penalty.

It was another tale of missed chances as Wednesday once again spurned numerous opportunities to put the game to bed, and Smith says the onus is on the technical team to keep the players’ heads up.

Smith, who was standing in for the absent Darren Moore told the media, “It’s not just me that’s devastated, it’s everybody in the dressing room. All the players, all the staff, they all feel the same. It’s a game we thought we could win, and with the chances we created we should’ve won. Now we come in tomorrow, and we go again.

“We need to highlight the good bits of play we had, show them the chances that we did create. It’d be more frustrating and disappointing if we weren’t creating chances, so we just have to stay positive.

“It starts with us, so when we come in tomorrow we need to be positive and bright. We’ll reflect on the game, and show them things we did well and also things we can improve on.”

But they’ll have to do that without Moore, who is resting up with pneumonia and blood clots after his battle with COVID-19, and it remains to be seen when he will be back at work – it may not be this season.

Smith went on to say, “He’s been struggling. He’s resting up now, and hopefully we can get him back as soon as possible. All we can do is hope that he can get back before the end of the season, but we just have to take it day by day.

“We’ve been able to speak to him over the phone, so there’s still that contact there… It’s been a tough time, but we have to keep fighting.”

Their next game is against Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday evening.

More Owls news

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Late disaster – Ratings as Wednesday throw away a glorious opportunity

"Like a defeat..." - Reaction from Smith on the performance and Bannan penalty

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