'Big respect' - Sheffield Wednesday's Henrik Pedersen praises 'incredible' discipline after Leeds United shock
Sheffield Wednesday manager, Henrik Pedersen, has heaped praise on his young Owls, expressing his delight at their Leeds United performance.
Just two members of Wednesday’s starting XI against Leeds on Tuesday night was over the age of 20, and the second half saw them bring on a 16-year-old Will Grainger, but still they managed to see off the multi-million pound threat of a strong Leeds side featuring a number of international footballers.
They needed a bit of luck, and another penalty shootout, but thanks to the heroics of Ethan Horvath they find themselves in the hat for the third round of the Carabao Cup, where the youngsters will be hoping to get another crack and seeing off whoever comes next.
Henrik Pedersen’s Sheffield Wednesday pride
“I’m proud,” he told Sky Sports afterwards. “Really, really proud. How they worked together today, in a very difficult game and in difficult periods, how they stayed together… Yeah, I’m just very proud.
“Yesterday we trained our defensive stuff, our 5-3-2 and we also trained goal kicks and a little bit of high press - but we didn’t use that much! Most of the time we trained our deep block in the 5-3-2 and the tactical discipline that the boys had today was incredible…
“They grew through the game, but at the same time as they grew, they became more and more tired. On a day like today you also need a little bit of luck, and we had a fantastic goalkeeper here. There were four or five really good saves, and this is what you need when you play with such a young team against such a good team. Big respect to all the players.”
Wednesday will find out who they face in the next round of the competition tomorrow night once the game between Manchester United and Grimsby Town has come to an end.
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