‘Whether Dennis, Lewis, Massimo or whoever…’ – Sheffield Wednesday can’t blame player absences for defeat

The Owls were beaten 3-0 over the weekend by a rampant Plymouth Argyle, a result that saw them drop further down the League One table after the shock defeat to Morecambe at the end of last month.

Wednesday were missing the likes of Dennis Adeniran, Massimo Luongo, Lewis Gibson (who is yet to make his Owls debut) and Josh Windass, while others such as Jaden Brown and Florian Kamberi were left out as part of Moore’s selection process.

Speaking to the media after the game, Moore refused to blame any absences for the loss, he said, "I don't want to talk about the players that we missed… I am not talking about excuses. We are a team, irrespective of who we play. Whoever is in there is expected to perform – whether Dennis, Lewis, Massimo or whoever weren't available. It doesn't matter to me. I don't see it that way.

"It is about what was on the pitch. Did we have a team capable of winning the game? Yes. Did we win the game? No. We need to move on. I don't want to look for excuses or people saying it's the long journey down here or players not being here. It is not an excuse. We lost the game because we were not quite good enough."

He also spoke of how difficult it would be for the Owls with the ‘big club’ target on their back, saying, "We have shown signs this season of what this team can get to… If you are not quite ready and at it, you have seen what can happen in this league. I think it serves as a good reminder for us early in the season that if you are not on top of your game what types of results you can expect.

"We have got to deal with who we are in the division and teams will rise against us but we have to deal with it and we don't hide away from it.”

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