Sheffield Wednesday forward Elias Kachunga on making Hillsborough a 'tough place' again

The Congo international was a key component of their 1-0 win over much-fancied Bournemouth in midweek, their first in 252 days at home.

It came off the back of four straight defeats and with the Owls still marooned one point short of a zero points tally after their 12-point sanction, Kachunga says an improvement in their form at S6 will be vital this season.

“We have to build a feeling and an energy in this stadium,” he said. “We want to take the points, everyone knows the tradition in this stadium. We played here before and it was always a really tough place. We want to bring that back, that teams come here and don’t want to play against Sheffield Wednesday.

“It was really important to win at home. It’s a start.

“We showed character, especially after a tough week for us, to come back after so many disappointments before. But it’s just one game.”

Asked about the team spirit and leadership in the dressing room after that horror run of defeats, Kachunga said: “We stuck together as a team, we have the quality but we have to show that on the pitch every game. Every game is tough.

“To win [against Bournemouth] showed character. We were pleased to show everyone around the club that we are here to compete against good teams.

“There are a few guys that speak more in the dressing room and guys that play in a way that takes everyone with them.

“But we all have to show this. We have experienced players, we spoke as a team about the games before and we went out to show we are fighting for one another.”

Wednesday take on Millwall at Hillsborough on Saturday hoping to record back-to-back home wins for the first time since mid-December.

Kachunga said: “We’re all looking forward to Saturday, to show what we can do in another good game, and then it’s the international break where we can take a breather.

“This was just one game. We’re looking forward to Millwall, to show what we can do and that we can perform on this level two games in a row.”

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