Sheffield Wednesday starlet on a well-earned break and the best moment of his career

The 19-year-old midfielder and lifelong Wednesdayite burst onto the scene last season and has made great strides in the Owls’ most recent run of matches in particular, scoring his first senior goal in the win over Coventry.

The Owls head down to Exeter City this weekend for a third round FA Cup tie likely to be several senior heads down after a coronavirus outbreak caused Middlewood Road to be closed.

Derby County, their opponents last weekend, have already confirmed that they will be sending out a youth team this weekend.

Quite how many seniors, including Shaw, will step out in Devon remains to be seen.

Speaking after a man of the match performance against the Rams, Shaw said the squad would be benefited from a break from Championship action.

“We had eight games in December and we’ve effectively got two weeks now,” he said. “Hopefully we can rest up and get ready to come out of January.

“I enjoyed scoring that goal [against Coventry], it was the best moment of my career so far, definitely. And then going and getting another three points, a clean sheet. It’s massive. We’ve got to keep going.

“The main thing for me is to have self-confidence. You’re going to have ups and downs and people who don’t think you’re good enough, but as long as you think you’re good enough that can be enough.

“These four games are done now, they’re in the past. It’s onto the next game.”

Shaw, who is a product of the Wednesday academy, knows caretaker manager Neil Thompson better than most and said he would be perfectly happy if the club were to keep him on long-term.

He hinted at the playing style of Tony Pulis stifling the players and touch and confirmed the Owls players had responded well to the tweaks made by Thompson.

Shaw said: “He’s come in and given us that positivity and that bit more freedom to go and play football. We’re more attacking now and defensively we’re doing it as a team not in drills. We go out and play

“It’s more enjoyable to watch I assume.”

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