Sheffield Wednesday’s turnaround and play-off ambitions prove ‘why everyone is fascinated with the Championship’

But it’s a reflection of what makes the highs and lows of playing in the Championship so special, according to Owls midfielder Adam Reach.

After a bumpy first half of the campaign, Wednesday have been consistent of late – consistently unbeaten. Their last loss in the league came eight matches ago in January's defeat to Hull City.

Prior to that 3-0 wake-up call at the KCOM Stadium, both then-caretaker manager Steve Agnew and his players cited the Tigers as an example of how quickly a second tier team’s fortunes can change if they put a run together.

And now Wednesday find themselves in that very position under Steve Bruce, just six points adrift of the play-off places.

“I don't think anyone is getting carried away and we know how difficult it is,” Reach said. “We will have to win a lot of games and hope teams slip up.

“But that is possible and what the Championship is about. We are all very confident going into a run of fixtures which we believe we can take maximum points from.

“Once you get into April and you are there or thereabouts, you can start looking at the table and maybe dreaming of getting to the play-offs.

"That is why everyone is fascinated with the Championship. You would not believe after the latter months with the previous managers reign that we could ever dream of even being in contention of the play-offs.”

Wednesday have just 11 matches of the league campaign left to make their ambitions a reality and with the best part of their season coming under the new manager, momentum is in their favour.

“Bruce has come in and showed his quality and experience and got everyone playing. The players have really bought into that and we feel really confident going into the end of the season.

"We have been solid and I think everyone can see that. In the last couple of home games, we have improved in the attacking sense and excited fans and scored goals.

“We are confident we can go into games and keep clean sheets and hopefully our quality can come through.”