Human aspect made clear as Sheffield Wednesday take new approach to international break

A third and final international break of the first half of the 2024/25 season will act as an opportunity for players and staff to take a beat and prepare themselves for the rigours of the winter fixture schedule, Danny Röhl has suggested. The German boss is 19 games into his first full season in management and saw his side edged out of the Steel City derby in their sign-off before a two-week break for international matches.

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Five senior players; James Beadle (England U21), Di’Shon Bernard (Jamaica), Gabriel Otegbayo (Republic of Ireland U21) and Charles brothers Shea and Pierce (both Northern Ireland) have been called up to represent their countries and will not report to Middlewood Road until late next week.

Though time off has ben granted, Röhl has previously seen international breaks as an opportunity to drill down on some aspects of their technical and physical work in his time since joining the club last October, but with a manic schedule ahead - and the benefit of time away from football - will see him take a break along with the rest of the first team set-up.

Activity at Middlewood Road will continue for those that need it of course, though initially at least it looks set to be a less intense time as figures recover from the early stages of the campaign to go again. Röhl, a father of two young children who has moved to South Yorkshire away from his family will spend time with his loved ones after a whirlwind last few months saw little time for rest in the summer.

“It's always about reflection from the last weeks but also I must use this time for myself, to calm a little bit down and have some time with my family,” he said ahead of the derby, when asked whether the break would be as intense as in previous weeks. “I have not seen them so much right now and this is important.

“This is in the schedule, I spoke to the players and we have some that need a rest to recover. Some players need minutes and training and we will find the right balance for the group. We will be ready then for the long time; from November to March there is no break and we will use this break in different directions.”

Wednesday are expected to re-engage in full training activity next week as they make preparations for their season re-start and the visit of Cardiff City in an early kick-off on Saturday November 23. This international break serves as the final pause on match action until the final round of mid-season international fixtures in March.