Honest admission made on Jamal Lowe and Sheffield Wednesday striker signings

The German coach spoke over the weekend to stress the need for his side to step up a gear to stop their season sliding with four matches remaining. A trip to battling Stoke City comes next for the Owls on Good Friday and with Middlesbrough the visitors to Hillsborough the following Monday, it’s expected Röhl’s side could be subject to a level of rotation at the end of a long season.

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Summer addition Jamal Lowe enjoyed a stellar start to life at S6, scoring in a breezy 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle on the opening day of the campaign. Life since then has been more difficult, the Jamaica international perhaps one of the victims of an October tweak to the Wednesday system as a struggle for rhythm set in.

Opportunities have fallen since but the fact is Lowe’s contribution has been inconsistent - he’s not the only forward to suffer on that front - and he hasn’t featured in a matchday squad in their last three outings with chances awarded to others. As the season has worn on, the more physical pair of Michael Smith and Callum Paterson have tended to take the central striking role, with less frequent opportunities falling to the likes of goal-light Lowe and Ike Ugbo. Other players have long since seemingly moved ahead of Lowe in other attacking positions.

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Last week Röhl candidly revealed to The Star that he carries a folder of notes that contain analysis on how things have gone throughout his first full campaign as a manager - including self-penned pointers on what could be done differently. He stopped short on revealing some of those pointers but over the weekend hinted that the number of strikers assembled in the squad was something he could reconsider given his time again.

“He got appearance at Cardiff,” Röhl said when asked on Lowe. “The first half from the whole team was not good. You asked me before about my notes through the season? I think about four strikers. Every striker has his moments but also not every striker can be number one. This is my honest part. Then, to manage them, we must then make decisions.

“We cannot bring four strikers on the bench because if we do this then we do not have two wingers, then you ask me about only having two wingers. I can only bring 18 players into the squad and these are tough decisions. At the moment it is Jamal, I try to manage. Maybe on Friday he is involved.”

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