What Sheffield Wednesday boss wants to see from his team against Huddersfield Town
Owls boss previews Saturday’s match at Huddersfield Town
Henrik Pedersen wants Sheffield Wednesday to play with ‘identity’ against Huddersfield Town.
The Owls make the short trip to West Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon to face a side who overtook them during the international break, climbing to third. Wednesday’s last two league performances - goalless home draws against Wigan Athletic and Stockport County - drew criticism for a lack of goal-threat and fans want to see an improvement on their return to action.
A win against a likely promotion contender might be deemed to be a ‘statement’ victory even at this early stage of the season but Pedersen refused to be drawn into that hype.
He told The Star: “I think Huddersfield is a very, very strong team in League One. But for us, I use all the focus for our performance, for our next level in our pressing, our next level in the different phases of the game, the next level of every individual player's next development. And this is where I use all my energy, with all my hard-working coaches, hard-working analysts.
“We want to go there to give a top performance with a top intensity with the identity of Wednesday and to play our football. We know it will be a tough, tough fight where all the basic things in football, all the second balls, the running, pressing, the running in transition, the duels, all the basic things will be a big thing tomorrow on on a big pitch.”
Wednesday can take confidence from the fact they have won all of their away games this season. But Saturday is likely to be their biggest test yet. And as much as Pedersen wants them to play with style and swagger, he understands they might have to grind it out.
On their away form, Pedersen added: “I think our culture has been very very strong. Our top level, in the last four games, has not been high enough, but our bottom level, how we are solid in the basic things, has been really strong, and the boys know that we can we can find a way to win, and it's not always need to be the same way. There's many ways to win a football game.”