Unpaid wages: Everything Danny Röhl said about Sheffield Wednesday's latest financial debacle

The Owls take on Hull City this weekend in their latest return to Hillsborough in search of three important points, but all of the news in the build-up has surrounded the club’s confirmation that they have had issues paying their players for March.

It’s a problem that has led to numerous statements being released by the Supporters’ Trust and fan groups, and there has been plenty of concern shown with regards to the future of the club given that it’s only a few months since they were placed under embargo due to money owed to HM Revenue and Customs.

Röhl was eager to shift focus onto the football, rather than off-the-pitch matters, but understood that the current situation was one that would be asked about. Here’s everything the German had to say about where the Owls are at, and whether they had an idea of when the matter would be settled:

Has the situation been sorted yet, and has he been paid?

As far as I know, no. It’s not the perfect situation. The club made a statement on Monday and I’m convinced we’ll solve the problem as soon as possible, and then hopefully we can then carry on and focus on the sport side. That’s the main thing for me, I want to focus on the pitch, and not other topics around us.

It doesn’t matter if I’m paid or not paid, I think it’s a whole situation. But again, the important thing is that we solve this problem, and we will do this. I’m convinced about this, I believe, and then we can carry on.

I’m always in contact with the club, I got the information about this topic, and now it’s about waiting until we solve it. I can’t influence it, I know I’m the man from the club and this is your job - you have to ask these questions. But I trust the club, to try and solve this, and I can hopefully bring my players in focus for Saturday. Fully focused for the game. We still have seven games to go, and we have goals to achieve.

Have you been given timescale for when it will be sorted?

No, I think this is also part of what we’re looking at. Hopefully it is soon, but what soon means… It could be today, or tomorrow, or next week. Hopefully as soon as possible. It’s not perfect, but we can only influence what we can influence, and that’s on the pitch with a good performance.

I can’t lie and say it’s easy, but I’m trying. And this is what I’ve been doing with my team, to make this topic not a big one in our rooms. Everybody knows it, and will think about it, but I’m trying to make us focused on the next three points - this is massive. It’s three months since our last home win, and it’d be fantastic to give our fans three points on Saturday.

What’s your message to fans, with talk of protest in and around the stadium on Saturday? And can you understand their concerns?

What is my message? Since I’m here we have had this sometimes, and we try to turn it as a team with good performances on the pitch. Sometimes we can bring the emotions down… I want to bring positive energy. That’s my challenge, there are different challenges sometimes, but this is part of the job. It’ll be sorted as soon as possible.

Of course I can understand everyone who is thinking about it and wondering how it is possible. But sometimes there are things we cannot influence, it’s more important that we solve the problem as soon as possible. We have to carry on, make good signals, and since I’m here we’ve had a lot of positive things. We’re a good address for players to come here, and hopefully we can keep growing like this - it’s important for the development of the club.

Has this sort of situation ever happened to you before? What have you said to your players?

Not personally, no. But my hometown club were twice bankrupt and couldn’t play, so I know what it means when the players didn’t get money. But in all those times the most important thing - and it’s something what I felt - was the supporters behind the club. And I think this is really special at this club.

Our supporters have a lot of ups and downs, and they hope for the good old times. We’re working on this, step by step, and I think this can be a good motivation for everybody on Saturday to do everything for our fans to give them the next three points. They deserve to see a good game, if we do then I think they’ll appreciate it.

I spoke to them briefly, just gave them a short sentence. Because every day the situation can change, and if you make the situation bigger and bigger and bigger it’s not helpful. I try to force my players to focus on the pitch, and this is what I’m trying to demand from them.

There is the financial side, of course, but it’s also about their careers. You want to perform well, you want to show up, you want to get points, this is really what I’m trying to say everyday. We should influence our performance at first, and everything else will be sorted as soon as possible.