League the priority for Sheffield Wednesday - but Owls are out to win Walsall clash
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The Owls travel to the Midlands well aware of the threat the League Two side pose, with the Saddlers having been in pre-season training for much longer than the Owls’ whirlwind three-week effort.
Scheduling complications mean that the first four rounds of the Carabao Cup are scheduled for September, leading many clubs to consider the impct of an energy-sapping cup run.
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Hide AdAsked of the side’s priorities heading into the cup clash, Monk made absolutely clear he sees clawing back their 12-point deduction as the immediate priority, though this weekend provides an important opportunity to get a winning mentality going.
“Let’s make no bones about it, the league is the most important thing for us this season, without a doubt,” he said.
“We have the Carabao Cup, it’s our first game and it’s a chance to set down a marker for ourselves. It’s going to be a difficult game and we know how ready they are, they’ve played a lot of pre-season games and they’ve been in training a lot longer.
“But we want to win, to start that winning mentality. It’s a game we won’t be taking lightly and what will be will be, whether that’s more rounds and all that comes with winning the games.
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Hide Ad“Of course we’ll assess at that point what the priority is, but the priority here is to win. It’s a game we want to win and if we can win this game and the next game comes then we’ll take it as it comes.
“But the league is the most important, especially this one, the most important that I can remember in the club’s history so we have to be ready for that. That’s our primary focus.
“Any game, whether it be a cup game or whatever, we have to go out there with the intention to win. That’s what our aim is.”