Neil Thompson bemoans lack of bravery from Sheffield Wednesday after missed opportunity

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Sheffield Wednesday missed a big opportunity to climb out of the Championship relegation zone tonight, and Neil Thompson says he wanted them to be braver.

The Owls fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City as their impressive run of home form came to an end, with Scott Hogan’s goal proving to be the difference at Hillsborough.

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Wednesday played almost the entire second half with 10 men after Liam Shaw’s red card, but even with a full complement they didn’t ask nearly enough questions of a Brum side in poor form themselves.

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What Sheffield Wednesday boss Neil Thompson said about Liam Shaw's sending off i...

When asked if his side needed to be braver against the Blues, he admitted that they weren’t able to take advantage when any opportunities did arise.

“Oh without a doubt,” he told the media. “We spoke about it at half time that if you go longer initially, which we did, to get them backed off and on the edge of their box, then you’ve got room to play… But we weren’t brave enough in possession to get on the ball. If we had done that then they’ve got to get after you and you might stretch them again – it’s a game of cat and mouse, and we didn’t do that.

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“In the second half the sending off impacts on how we play the game, and I thought we did have one or two little opportunities.

“The lads who came on gave us some fresh legs and impetus – we went a bit gung-ho, but it wasn’t to be. Rhodesy got on the end of a header, Matt had a cross that nobody got on the end of.

Neil Thompson wanted more from this Sheffield Wednesday players. (Pic Steve Ellis)Neil Thompson wanted more from this Sheffield Wednesday players. (Pic Steve Ellis)
Neil Thompson wanted more from this Sheffield Wednesday players. (Pic Steve Ellis)

“We’ve got to dust ourselves down, there’s a long way to go, but we’ve got to fight.”

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He went on to say, “We’ve fallen short of where we need to be. Everybody. At the end of the day it impacts on results. 1-0 defeats are horrible, because they’re nip and tuck games and you’re just on the wrong end of it.

“If you get stuffed then you just have to admit that you were beaten by the better team, but I certainly don’t think that was the case today.”

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