George Byers lays down gauntlet as Sheffield Wednesday face big trip to Sunderland

The Owls face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in December in their first game back after a break forced by Covid-19, and found themselves on the wrong end of five goals in their biggest defeat of the campaign.

But while that game didn’t go their way, Wednesday did beat the Black Cats 3-0 at home last season, and Byers admits that they’re confident they can get the job done as long as they stick to their game plan.

Speaking to the media, Byers said, “It’s going to be a tough game - they’re a good side with good players, but we’re a good side with good players as well. It’ll be tough, but we’ll go into confident and if we stick to our game plan and know what we’re good at, then hopefully we’ll get the job done.

“I think we’re level over both games… It was 3-0 at home when we won, so I wouldn’t say we owe them one, but obviously the last game was nowhere near the levels that we’re capable of playing.”

He also went on to admit that he’s pleased that the deciding game will be in their own backyard, saying, “It’s massive for us that the second leg is at home - you’ve seen what the crowd is like. It was incredible (against Portsmouth), and that just pushes us on to do the best that we can. That’s what we need.

“As I said before, we need to stick to the gameplay that’s set out for us, and if we stick to what we’re good at then we know what we’re capable of.

“They’re massive games, the play-offs. They’re what you want to play in as a player, big games like these. I’m looking forward to it.”

Wednesday face Sunderland at 7.45pm on Friday night in the first leg of their play-off tie, and they’ll be hoping to build on their impressive 4-1 victory over Portsmouth and take a step closer to the Championship.

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