Garry Monk on freshness, mistakes and wasted opportunities in Sheffield Wednesday defeat to West Brom

That’s according to Owls boss Garry Monk, who admitted the away side were fresher and had more quality to call on in the second half as the five-substitution rule made itself felt as the match went on.

Baggies boss Slaven Bilic was able to bring on four full internationals and on-loan Sheffield United forward Callum Robinson a the defeat that saw Monk name four academy players on the Wednesday bench.

And Monk’s side had the better of the match until Moses Odubajo gave away his fourth penalty of the season to change the game in the visitor’s favour.

“I think anyone watching the game would see it’s a harsh scoreline,” Monk said. “We had the better of that first half and maybe it was just in that final third, a bit of the decision making could have been better and we could have taken advantage of the first half.

“The penalty, obviously, was difficult and then in the second half it was a combination of things. Their freshness showed, the changes that they made and the subs they were able to bring on and a couple of extra days, it showed.

“I obviously had to make substitutions were I had to go for it a little bit and left it open and more exposed, it was always going to be the way because we were left chasing the game.

“The second half was more to do with the changes and their freshness. Of course we’re disappointed to lose the game.”

On the penalty, which saw Odubajo bring down Conor O’Shea in the box, Monk said: “I didn’t actually see the penalty really but I’m told it was a penalty. It was the only real disappointment in the first half, it was a mistake we made and we were punished.

“It just shows you how important it is to open the scoring and take advantage of the moments we have.”

Editor's message: Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The Star is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions for unlimited access to Sheffield news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.