The Owls failed to score in 180 minutes against two League Two sides...but does it really matter?

Watching Sheffield Wednesday play two games in one day was supposed to be fun. Fans could not remember it ever happening before. By the end, they wished they could forget it.

One hundred and eighty minutes of football against two League Two sides and The Owls did not manage a single goal. They did not lay a glove on them. Oh, and they conceded four.

The chatter on the walk back to the car after the goalless draw at Accrington Stanley was that it was a bit 'meh' - a typical pre-season friendly. You look forward to football restarting and then quickly remember why you don’t actually like friendlies. The first-half was okay and quite watchable as a contest but the second 45 was a non-event. By 6pm, it felt like a thriller, much better than the 4-0 walloping they received by Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park. It is only pre-season, but there were boos at half-time, sarcastic chants of ‘we’ve had a shot’ and early exits from those in the away end.

Both games highlighted Wednesday’s lack of goal threat. They barely landed a tickle, never mind a punch. After failing to score in two 70-minute matches against Stoke City a week ago, and after drawing a blank against West Brom, it has to be a concern. What is more worrying is that they struggled to create much of note at all. It is not like they were wasteful. There was nothing to waste. At times, particularly against Oldham, it was hard to work out what they were even trying to do. It was a tough watch.

For balance, there were some encouraging individual performances against Accrington. Yan Valery (from the World Cup to The Wham Stadium, by the way) was back in blue and white. Ernie Weaver looked in good shape after his long-term injury. Liam Cooper got a strong 45 minutes under his belt. Reece ‘Trialist’ James put in the type of whole-hearted display we were used to seeing from his previous spell. Young Denny Oliver had some tidy moments. For 17, Harry Gray played beyond his years down the left in the first-half. And Mason Burstow offered a physical presence and was lively.

On paper, the line-up at Oldham was much stronger, but it did not look it from minute one. It was a lacklustre, soft and toothless performance. Maybe only Callum Slattery came out of it with any credit. The players bowed their heads as they trudged over, almost with embarrassment, to clap those who had travelled over at full-time.

Do these two results mean anything? Maybe not. We would not be bouncing off the walls had they won both convincingly. You can win all your pre-season games, score for fun and not concede a single goal, but still lose your first game when the proper stuff starts. But pre-season or not, you should never get bored of winning football matches, whoever the opposition. After last season, Wednesday really could have done with getting into the winning habit. Despite a new squad, perhaps it is going to be harder to kick the habit than we thought. Let’s just hope they are saving up the goals and the victories for the real thing.