Sheffield Wednesday boss suggests promotion hangover after another Jekyll and Hyde outing

The Owls boss was speaking after his side had played out a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at Hillsborough - surrendering a position of strength having entered the break a goal up and with momentum.

Anthony Musaba’s second Wednesday goal was cancelled out by a Darragh Lenihan goal from a corner.

And where the home side had by far the better of the first half, Boro took the best of the second in what has become a familiar tale of inconsistency over 90 minutes.

“We need to find a balance,” Xisco said. “The first half was of a good level.

“We need to find the situation in the Championship. I understand we can’t have control for the whole 90 minutes but our [contact] points are very far.

“This is one of the things we have to improve in our situation. When we have difficult moments the second half was a totally different game.”

Xisco admitted frustration over an inability to put together a consistent 90 minutes that served to cost him his first win in nine competitive matches as Wednesday boss.

“I totally agree,” the Spaniard continued. “The other day it [vs Ipswich, for which he apologised to fans for a poor first half performance] was the other way around.

He also drew back on the ‘lions to mice’ analogy used earlier in the campaign when intimating a shift in mentality needed having gone from one of the division’s fancied sides to a less-fancied outfit this time out.

“I think right now the more difficult work we have in the future is to try and find to stay on this level,” he said.

“They show we can give that level. The first half we had control of the game.

“It is very difficult to analyse; do you do the first half or the second half. It is black and white.

“We need to have the capacity to do this. With mentality, personality, with tactics and physical condition.

“These are things we try to improve. It is important to understands the last season they were at the top and now it is more difficult. We have to change some situations about that.

“We need to improve in the last third but it is about which part of the face you are thinking.

“I think in the positive, but it is very, very, very frustrating on the other part.”