Gillingham vs Sheffield Wednesday: Owls boss offers honest assessment of 'mundane' performance after Gillingham draw

The Owls mustered only two shots on target as they were held to a sluggish 0-0 draw at relegation-threatened Gillingham, who offered resistance in a determined defensive effort.

And though Wednesday’s lacklustre outing was barely punished as top six rivals Wycombe, Sunderland and Oxford also drew, Moore did little to hide his disappointment with a lethargic performance.

“I don’t think we showed enough impetus in the first half,” he said. “We had a lot of the ball today and it was too slow, too mundane. When we got balls in and around the penalty box we didn’t show enough creativity or guile to get the goal.

“They sat in a deep block all afternoon, there were no spaces to go. It made it very difficult.

“We tried to go and get the goal, I put Mendez-Laing on, I put Saido in there, we wanted more balls into feet and to build from that. We had more chances second half but didn’t threaten enough.”

Moore knows full well that in their remaining eight matches opposition teams are likely to enact similar tactics to Gillingham, setting up to frustrate the Owls with a ‘low block’ defence.

He accepted it was up to him and his coaching staff to find answers for a tactic they have struggled to break down at times this season.

“We’ve scored 30 goals in 13 games,” Moore said. “One thing we have been doing is threatening but today against that low block we found it difficult. They just didn’t go anywhere.

“You have to give credit, I don’t condemn Gillingham for it, we know where they are in the league and they’re fighting for their lives.

“They know what they need to do, but it was about us and what we needed to do. First half we were too slow in our approach, second half we tried to up it and bring one or two on.

“I was pleased with the clean sheet, but we needed much more impetus in and around their box.”