"It was quite remarkable" - Steve Bruce describes moment that encouraged him to take charge at Sheffield Wednesday

Bruce, who was in charge of the Hull City side that beat Wednesday that day, said that memories of the atmosphere created by the Owl’s fan base stayed with him, and that it was a ‘deciding factor’ in his signing earlier this year.

Optimism in the air at Sheffield Wednesday's annual Owls in the Park event

Speaking at the ‘Owls in the Park’ event that attracted around 15,000 Wednesdayites yesterday, he said: “A few years ago, when unfortunately we lost to Hull, the support that day was quite remarkable, and when you can see it now, it’s the making of a bigger club.

“To be a big club you need big support, and for that we are extremely grateful. If you don’t have that support you’re not a big club.

Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan: "Promotion campaign starts today"

“We have that huge support and hopefully we can give them what they want, which is a crack at the big league. That’s got to be our aim – when you’re a big club like us, that has to be on the agenda.”

The first team squad travel to Portugal today for some warm weather pre-season training.