Svante Ingelsson on why recent theme of Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United matches can be to Owls benefit
Svante Ingelsson insists one theme of recent Steel City derbies can suit Sheffield Wednesday - and that the return of fans to the equation can offer them an edge.
The Owls face-off against bitter city rivals Sheffield United on Sunday hoping to grab a first derby win since 2012. It’s a game that means more to those local than any other and after two defeats in the corresponding fixtures last time out, the big Swede is keen to write the side’s name into a little corner of Wednesday history.
Both of those losses came via scrappy 1-0 wins for the Blades and were preceded by a trio of goalless draws. Sheffield derbies are so often tight and direct affairs and with some of the Owls’ best performances this season having come in similar circumstances, it could be that it suits the home side this weekend.
“We play like that sometimes when we play away, we sometimes play more simple football and we’ve had some really good performances away this season,” Ingelsson said. “It will suit us if so but we have showed in other games, like Norwich, that we can go out to play good football. We can do both so hopefully we can bring all that to the game on Sunday.
“Obviously you know when you sign for a team that there’s another team in the city. So it was something I looked forward to straight away and you know the expectations were there. They’re nice to play. The first one, away, was really a bad football game. So many free-kicks and fouls, not so much nice play or chances in either direction.
“It could be similar this year as well. We have to get our mindset on the situation and that that could be the game. We need to fight for it.”
Wednesday fans are back in fine voice after the departure of Dejphon Chansiri from the management of the club sparked a reversal of a widely-acknowledged fan boycott. A raucous atmosphere in a sell-out Hillsborough is anticipated - and can make the difference.
“The fans are massive to get the momentum in the games,” the Swede continued. “We missed that in the first games of the season when the fans were not there. It’s huge for us that they are back now and they stand behind us. It’s good. From me and the team, we want to play a good game, get the energy there and take a good result for us.
“You can feel that this one is more important than other games. But we can’t put it too high up, we must focus on the tactical stuff and on what matters and what we have to do to win the game.”