Sheffield Wednesday loanee Josh Windass desperate to play bigger role in the revival of the Owls' season

The 26-year-old scored in his second-half cameo from the bench in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Derby County having sat out of Wednesday’s previous three matches.

He also scored on his debut at Barnsley but has found minutes difficult to come by over the last two weeks with boss Garry Monk suggesting the match sharpness of both Windass and fellow loanee Connor Wickham wasn’t quite where he’d want it to be.

“It’s tough watching from the bench,” Windass admitted. “They are a great set of lads, good manager, and you don’t want to see your team-mate suffering like that.

“All you can do is try and come on and have an impact, and that’s what I did.

“I am here to score when I get the chance, the position I play in, that’s what you are judged on.

“I have spoke to the manager a couple of times, when you are not in the team, you always ask ‘what can I do better?’”

The introduction of Windass alongside centre-half Dominic Iorfa contributed to a brighter performance in the second half against Derby, but the playmaker is clear the team can take little from it.

The Wigan man is cup-tied for tomorrow’s FA Cup clash with Manchester City. But he outlined his determination to inject new life into the Owls’ season going forward.

He said: “There was an improvement in the second half, but they probably took their foot off the gas, and anybody can play when you are 3-0 down.

“We need to stop getting ourselves into that situation from 0-0, and play like we did in the second half.

“It’s a great stadium, great fans, but if you lose 3-1, scoring doesn’t really matter.

“It’s easy for me to sit here and say what went wrong in the first half - I was on the bench - but there were individual errors and lack of confidence. But the only way to get confidence is by training, preparing properly, and that’s all we can do.”