Sheffield Wednesday boss clear on mistake they ‘cannot repeat against Hull City’ after Stockport County scrape

The Owls made a raft of changes and handed out six full debuts for the first round Hillsborough clash, which saw the visiting Hatters take grip of the game in the first half and lead for the majority of the match through Paddy Madden’s classy finish on 16 minutes.

The introduction of Josh Windass and particularly Callum Paterson with half an hour to go swung momentum. An injury time Tyreeq Bakinson equaliser forced the tie to penalties, when debutant goalkeeper Devis Vasquez turned hero by saving twice, sending his new side through.

Xisco has long since asked for patience in the fanbase as the squad and preferred style of play comes together in the coming weeks.

“Today we have six new players in our squad,” Xisco told reporters. “They arrived five days ago or less and it was the first time they played together.

“For me, it is very important that they understand and get used to the process. The most important thing is that we are in the next round. All the teams in this pre-season and in this season are difficult to play against.

“Stockport were good, hard-working and the manager is doing very good with this team. They gave good things and this is England, in England it doesn’t matter if you are in League One, if you are in League Two or if you are Championship or Premier League.

“When you are in a cup, a team can take you out.”

It’s a second penalty shootout defeat in three competitive matches for Stockport, who lost out in the League One play-off last season on spot kicks. The visitors made life difficult for a Wednesday side that took a long time to get going.

Looking ahead to the trip to Hull City’s MKM Stadium on Saturday, Xisco continued: “I was not surprised by the performance. I knew their team and I know exactly what our team gave in pre-season. We tried to change it.

“For me the most important thing is to start thinking about the important things. Once again we conceded in the first minutes in the game and this is impossible. It’s important we come into the game with more urgency, more concentration, more power.

“This is the situation. We cannot repeat this mistake. Sometimes you can repeat mistakes, this mistake it’s important that against Hull that we come into the game with more power.”