Good start vital for Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion hopes next season, believes Owls defender

Morgan Fox reckons a strong start to the 2019/20 season is a must if the Owls are to stand any chance of securing promotion to the Premier League
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Wednesday struggled at the beginning of this term, picking up just one point from their opening three fixtures.

A three-match winning streak lifted them up to 10th in the Championship rankings at the end of the first international break. They were even in the play-off positions in mid-October.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But their results quickly tailed off, culminating in manager Jos Luhukay's exit before Christmas.

Sheffield Wednesday defender Morgan FoxSheffield Wednesday defender Morgan Fox
Sheffield Wednesday defender Morgan Fox

Left-back Fox told The Star: "We have to start a lot better than what we did this year.

"Once you get a good start, you can then try and maintain that for the rest of the season."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lee Bullen was placed in caretaker charge after Luhukay's dismissal and the popular Scot reignited their campaign. He provided Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence and Steve Bruce with a solid defensive platform to build on. Bullen played a key role in making Wednesday a difficult side to play against.

Bruce and his coaching staff maintained the momentum built up by Bullen to give the Owls an outside chance of finishing in the play-off zone.

But their lingering hopes of going up were mathematically ended in their penultimate fixture after a pulsating draw away to Preston North End.

Although Wednesday finished 12th, 10 points shy of the play-offs, Fox does not feel the Owls' squad requires major surgery this summer.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It is up to the gaffer to decide what he wants to do but if you look at what we did in the second half of this season then you would say we have got a good enough squad to compete with anyone in the league," insisted Fox. "If we all come back firing in pre-season, then we should be alright."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.