'Nothing to lose now' - Sheffield Wednesday boss criticises Owls' start but praises reaction

The Owls now need just one more point to match the tally that kept them up last season, and have achieved it with 21 more still to play for. Against Cardiff City they once again fought back from behind to secure a 1-1 draw, and Röhl spoke glowingly about the way that his side reacted in the second half after a lacklustre first half showing. He was not, however, pleased with how they started.

With seven games now left to play, the German is eager to see them try and push for what is now an unlikely spot in the Championship play-offs, but he also knows that they need to perform better over the course of full matches.

“We have now 52 points,” he told the media afterwards. “Last year we had at the end 53. I think with seven games in our hands we can get a lot of points.

“It’s not enough...”

“Then I see we reduced the gap on the play-offs from six to five points. It means I look up, and I want to see a team who attack the next position… We have nothing to lose now, we can go all in. 
Second half we played all in, the first half not, and if you play just 45 minutes in the Championship, it's not enough to win a game.”

Meanwhile, on the game itself, he said, “Especially in the first half we felt it, that there was a team on the other side fighting for their lives to stay in the league. For us it wasn’t enough in the first half. It wasn’t enough front foot, not enough defending, not enough winning second balls, not enough attacking the last line.

“If you play just passes without direction then you cannot score. In the second half I saw a team who were able to do this, we were front- foot, made pressure and moments… It was a good goal from us, now we have to take the point.”

Wednesday now turn their attentions to Hull City next Saturday, and they’ll be eager to try and get back to winning ways at Hillsborough as they look to end a long wait for a win on home turf.

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