Players may shudder - but 'mad' midweek sessions at Sheffield Wednesday are making a difference

Because, apparently, Wednesdays are 'mad days' at Wednesday. With recovery from the weekend's efforts under the belt and the more intense, more detailed preparation for the next game still to come on Thursday and Friday, on a regular Saturday-to-Saturday game week it is on 'hump day' that Danny Röhl and his coaching staff get to work on ensuring their side is fit and firing.

The arrival of the coaching set-up saw a switch to a fierce, high-intensity style of play in which players are instructed to press high and win the ball back in opportune moments. It's a modern style of front-foot football that when carried out at its best is a joy to watch. It requires huge preparation both mentally and physically.

Wednesday is usually the day. No breaks in the session, every player pushed hard for its duration. GPS packs are worn to ensure there's no slacking with the movements of each man poured over in data retrospectively; sprints, distance covered, acceleration. If players are not performing to the required standard an awkward conversation follows. Röhl has spoken publicly about the need for players to put in the work to cope with the demands of his style of play.

It appears to be working. Taking October's 1-1 draw with champions elect Leicester City as the starting point for the Röhl revolution, the Owls have scored six times in the last 15 minutes of their seven home matches. There have been a great many other improvements, of course, but in the last 15 minutes of all matches their xG has risen from 0.14 before that Leicester game to 0.4 since. The average number of shots they take is up from 1.95 to 3.5. There's an energy going forward that previously didn't exist.

"The intensity of our game is so high now," said key man Josh Windass in conversation with The Star last week. "We've been out-run once in any game since he's been here because he wants us to press and press. It's not just running, pressing, it's so diligent and specific. We have one training session a week that is mad, really hard. The rest of it tends to be detail, but even when we're doing that stuff, everything has to be done to maximum intensity.

"It can be difficult, it is tough but once you get doing it consistently over a long period of time your body gets used to it and you see the benefits. With the weather and the pile-up of the games it's natural that players have had injuries so I don't think the injuries we've had have been down to the training."

Röhl has made secret in public of the demands loaded onto his players. Both he and assistant Henrik Pedersen are understood to be the taskmasters in driving standards on the training ground. There's a degree of 'carrot and stick' in the methods of the coaching team as a whole. Much was made of Marcelo Bielsa's 'murderball' sessions while at Leeds United, where balls run out of play would be immediately thrown back in to prevent rest periods. He wasn't alone in all that - Garry Monk used to do similar at Wednesday - but squint a little and there are similarities in what Röhl has implemented at S6.

The German has made no secret his displeasure of individuals not preparing their body adequately for the style of play he insists upon - even publicly - and it is in the mad midweek sessions that the numbers give no hiding place. "It's a really hard day," Windass grimaced. "He's on you all the time and he's big on data, so when you're not doing what he's asking he can see it there on paper. That's where you might get pulled up and they'll have a go at you. He's very firm on what he wants."