Live reaction from Darren Moore after Sheffield Wednesday's comfortable win over Crewe Alexandra
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The Owls are currently eighth as they go up against 23rd-placed Crewe, and they’ll be desperate to claim all three points at Gresty Road in their first meeting with the Railwaymen since a 2-0 defeat in the Championship back in 2006.
Wednesday have the likes of Josh Windass, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Ciaran Brennan back in contention, while Lee Gregory was also given the all clear after he left the field during the 0-0 draw with Portsmouth with a bit of a niggle. The game does come too soon, however, for others such as Chey Dunkley, Dennis Adeniran and Sam Hutchinson.
Alex Miller and Joe Crann will bring you all the team news, updates and more as the afternoon progresses – and hopefully there’s a Wednesday win to shout about at the end of it.
Up the Owls.
Crewe Alexandra host Sheffield Wednesday - Owls out to extend unbeaten run in League One
Key Events
- Wednesday haven’t lost since being beaten by Oxford
- Crewe’s David Artell described Wednesday as ‘the Real Madrid of League One'
- Alexandra are currently 23rd, the Owls are eighth
That’s a wrap from DM
Make sure you keep your eyes locked on thestar.co.uk for all of the fallout from today’s win over Crewe.
DM on Palmer
The versatility he showed today was good. He’s a calming influence, and he dealt with the ball really well. He covered his fellow defenders well - and I thought the back three gave us a good platform to build from.
DM on Byers
He played on Thursday for the U23s, and with the quick turnaround for him and Sylla - we thought it’d be too much for them today. It gave them minutes for the Christmas programme though.
We’ll look at playing some of the first team with the U23s on Tuesday if it’s right to do so.
I try to stay consistent with him... Bad moments don’t make him a bad player. He’s played at the highest level, and I’m pleased that we’ve got him here. He’s still young, but he’s got marvellous potential and we’ve seen that at Wednesday. He’s a top, top goalkeeper.
We’ll have a chat with Burnley (in terms of a recall) - we’ve not had that chat yet.
DM on injuries
We’ll have a look at the players - we’ve got a full week so we’ll have a look at the back end of the week.
DM on Brennan
It was accomplished from him. His positional sense and maturity, and he was really calm on the ball. He gives us a bit more balance, so we wanted to bring him in and push Pato up - I’m pleased to see it come off.
DM on Gregory
You want your strikers scoring, and he popped up again today. I thought he was wonderful, and he scored a thumping header. I’m really pleased.
DM on clean sheets
It’s really satisfying, and that comes down to their resilience. Credit at both ends of the pitch, it was pretty much a perfect away day performance.
DM on Bannan and BPF
A fabulous goal from Barry... Then Bailey really stood up for the penalty.
I don’t think Crewe could get to grips with Barry today. In and out of possession. Everything went through him today, and he drove the players on.
DM on the performance
We just wanted to come here and focus on what we were doing... I think that’s what we got. We did some good work after Portsmouth, and I thought it was a really focused performance.
From start to finish I thought we were in control. At half time we spoke, and then knocked the stuffing out of them with the second goal. It was an accomplished performance - but I wish we’d got more goals.
If we’d got a third one it would have been game, set and match - but it was pleasing to get a clean sheet.