Sheffield Wednesday star man on how James Beattie is bringing the best out of 'sharp' Jordan Rhodes
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Wednesday take on Leicester City in a pre-season clash on Saturday with Jordan Rhodes as the only senior striker on the books. And though winger Harris acknowledges the club needs to add more depth offensively, he has faith in Rhodes to step up and turn his Owls career around.
Speaking to The Star from their training camp at Loughborough University, Harris said: “I've got a lot of confidence in the strikers that are here. I think the club will probably bring in a couple more just for depth, but I think the strikers we have here can do a job.
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Hide Ad“Jordan Rhodes didn't have the best season last season but that's football. I think he can come in this season and do extremely well for us, he's an experienced pro, he's prolific and he's one of the best strikers the Championship has seen so I think he can definitely do a job.
“He looks as sharp as I've seen him since I've been here, for sure. He's looking very sharp and clinical in training, I just hope he can bring that into the games.
“I think that he can, he needs a run of games and support around him as well. He needs people like me to feed him chances, we've seen what can happen when that happens.”
Club-record signing Rhodes has had a difficult time at the club since his signing in 2017. All three of his goals in 19 appearances last season came in a red-hot first half in the 4-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
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Hide AdBut Harris believes the addition of new assistant manager James Beattie, a former England forward with a solid record of improving Championship strikers at his previous clubs, can transform Rhodes’ fortunes at Hillsborough.
“He [Beattie] is one of the best strikers that the Premier League has ever seen,” Harris said.
“His experience and what he brings to the table is very important for the likes of Jordan and even myself. We've already worked together after training on finishing and stuff like that so I'm sure he'll improve my finishing as well as other people in the team.”
Today will be the fifth and final day of the club’s training camp ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes. Harris is the latest Wednesday player to report a positive atmosphere within the camp.
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Hide Ad“Everyone here is happy,” he said. “These are positive vibes at the moment and we can't wait to get the season started, we've got some new faces as well. It's been refreshing and we've got some good new characters. We can't wait to get underway.
“We've been working a lot on ourselves and our shape going into the season. A lot has been about togetherness as well, we had a good day away from training for some team bonding and that was good. We’re preparing for the season ahead in the best way possible.”