Demand made of trio that hold potential Sheffield Wednesday hasn't seen in years

The Owls have lined up with three dynamic young forwards in their last two matches; 18-year-old Bailey Cadamarteri, 20-year-old Djeidi Gassama and grandad of the trio, 22-year-old Anthony Musaba. The matches at Preston North End and at home to Hull City either side of the New Years weekend delivered two wins and renewed cause for optimism not only of their Championship survival capabilities but in the club's future potential.

Though early days though these may be for the youngsters and the principles Danny Röhl is seeking to implement at the club, it's been a generation or more since Wednesday had three attacking players to have shown anything like the attacking potential on display in recent weeks. The German has previously spoken about building a culture of developing young players for the club's own benefit and for sell-on purposes and has also stressed the need for patience as they grow their game and seek consistency.

Gassama is the latest of the three to be given his first real sight of the spotlight after bagging a man of the match gong in a televised goalscoring effort against Hull. Röhl acknowledged his pride at the progress of the trio but made a demand that their attitude towards hard work now only increases that they have had a taste of success.

"He deserved now to score," he said of Gassama. "This is what happens when you work hard again and again and you saw against Preston he worked hard, against QPR he worked hard. The moment comes if you work like this, you can earn something. Today he scored and it is fantastic, his improvement is fantastic.

"It's the same was Musaba and Bailey, for sure. But they have to work harder still now, it's not a case that he has scored and now it is good, no. I demand again and again in the future. Gass is in a good situation now, if you look back it was not easy. Things look a little bit closer, but still there is a long way to go."

The return of senior men in Josh Windass and Michael Smith may well see the fledgling triple-threat parked for certain matches in the future as Röhl seeks to utilise the full breadth of the squad. Attackers are being sought in January, he has said, and the half-time substitution of Cadamarteri on Monday evening showed a desire to keep the load light.

Backed by the foresight in the transfer market to bring in youngsters from the likes of Monaco and PSG, along with a huge undertaking from the club's own academy, Röhl appears to be going about instilling what previous managers have spoken about but not achieved; blooding youngsters. The early signs are encouraging.