Sheffield Wednesday: The key area Garry Monk is working on to help shoot Owls up the table

Their performance levels and results have constantly fluctuated from one match to the next. There have simply been too many bumps in the road, hence why Wednesday have finished mid-table in successive campaigns.

But Owls boss Garry Monk, only a month into his tenure, is determined to turn around their fortunes.

Monk, who suffered his first league defeat at Hull City in midweek, said: "I spoke to the players when I first came in, looking from the outside over the last couple of years, coming up against these players - and watching games they have played in - that’s why they haven’t reached certain levels where we all think they should have been.

"A little bit of inconsistency. It’s very difficult in the Championship to maintain the highest levels.

"The physical demands on the players in this league, it’s extremely difficult to do that (be consistent).

"That’s been part of our work, from the mentality point of view, trying to impress that you are not always going to be at your best, but if we can get as close to that as consistently as possible, that’s going to benefit everybody.

"The effort on Tuesday was there, maybe we lacked that bit of quality."

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Wednesday have made a promising start under Monk, accruing seven points from his four Championship outings. A win over Wigan Athletic this Saturday could potentially move the Owls into the play-off zone heading into the two-week international break.

"I think it’s been a very healthy start, when I look at the healthy position we are in and the points that have accumulated from the start of the season," he said. "Of course, what we want is a reaction from the game on Tuesday.

"Regardless of whether you felt we deserved points or not, we didn’t get that, and good teams respond straightaway.

"We need to have that fire in the belly. The players, the look on their faces and the attitude in training, I am confident we are going to get that reaction. If we get that, we will put ourselves in the best place to get three points."