The Owls kicked-off their EFL Trophy campaign at the AIG Stadium on Tuesday night

Henrik Pedersen said it was ‘clear’ that some of Sheffield Wednesday’s players lacked ‘rhythm’ in their first-half performance against Salford City, but praised an improved display after the break in their EFL Trophy win.

The Owls made eight changes from the weekend and they trailed at the break after a desperately poor first-half in which they failed to have a meaningful shot against the League Two hosts, who made 11 changes themselves. Wednesday could have been further behind had it not been for saves from debutant Ashley Maynard-Brewer and the woodwork coming to their rescue.

But they improved and equalised when Davis Keillor-Dunn headed in his first goal for the club 10 minutes after the break, assisted by bright young winger Joel Akpobi on his debut. A penalty from Jamal Lowe with 13 minutes remaining that was won by lively substitute Callum Slattery sealed a comeback win in their first EFL Trophy group game.

“I think it was a very good test for us tonight,” Pedersen said. “We could see that we worked really hard in the first-half, but we never really get the rhythm. We lost some balls. We worked hard, pressed, lost some balls again. And when we really put more passes together, then we also came higher up in the pitch. We saw a big step forward in the second-half.

“It was clear to see that many players have not played so much. In the second-half we got much more the rhythm in the game, and we start to have much more patience on the ball, but we kept the speed on the ball. We started to be more front-footed. We were also front-footed in the first-half, but the swarm, how we work together in the press, was better in the second half.

“We made some adjustments in the break, and we did that defensive and offensive. So I think a really strong second-half and a good win. I think we we played much better from the beginning of the second-half. They start to have rhythm, and when you have not played so much in the last period, then you need game practice to get this rhythm. So I think we grow through the game and get better, better rhythm, and so big respect for the performance.”

With Wednesday’s next two league games postponed, they are not in action now until they host Sunderland under-21s, also in the EFL Trophy, on October 6.