Leeds United boss praises Sheffield Wednesday and Danny Röhl - insists they don't fear 'physical' Owls

The Owls and their opponents both head into the tie in fine form in the Championship, and while they are battling it out at different ends of the table the two sides find themselves on an unbeaten run that has given them a boost in achieving their respective goals. Leeds' eleven-game streak is slightly longer than Wednesday's four, however.

Friday's clash will see two German managers up against each other as Farke meets Danny Röhl for the first time, and the former Norwich City boss was full of praise for his opposite number, calling his turnaround with the Owls 'pretty impressive'.

When asked about his compatriot, and the visit of Hansi Flick to Hillsborough this week, the Leeds boss told the media, “Danny is more or less in his first steps as a head coach, as a manager, and he’s doing really well in Sheffield - he’s given them a major boost in results. I think it’s now four wins on the spin, five wins in their last six games. It’s pretty, pretty impressive what they have done and how many points they have collected.

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“I think it’s important when you’re in the first steps of your managerial career that you have people to listen to and to speak with. Once you’ve got some years at this level, though you still have colleagues that you speak with, you don’t necessarily have a mentor anymore. But it is good to speak to colleagues and experts - you need that to develop.”

Farke also praised the Owls’ recent run of results, but insisted that there would be no fear from his side as they make the trip to S6 – he did, however, make mention of the state of the pitch.

“It’s two sides in really good form,” he went on to say. “Even though we’re at different positions in the table. But if they can win four in a row then you have to say they’re in good form. Due to their slow start to the season they’re still in the position where they have to fight and struggle against relegation, but they’re also one of the most in-form teams at the moment and we’re respectful.

“But we know we’re also in brilliant shape with 10 wins and one draw, so we won’t travel in fear. We know the pitch is not that great and we know we have an opponent who play pretty physically - especially in home games… We’re looking forward to it.”