Why Sheffield Wednesday wanted to face Rayo Vallecano in Hillsborough friendly

The Owls were beaten 2-0 by the La Liga outfit on Wednesday night, with an own goal and a second half strike from Randy Nteka putting them to the sword, however there were plenty of positives from the evening – not least the performance of new signing, Ben Heneghan.

It was Wednesday’s penultimate official friendly before the season gets underway against Portsmouth, and Darren Moore has explained what he felt the game would offer his players as way of preparation.

Speaking to The Str, the Owls boss said, “What they do is they play at different angles on the pitch… They work the ball at different angles.

“They don’t play in what we say as predominantly straight lines, and they also move the ball at speed and precision - some of their one-touch play was really good.

“The one-touch play is to open up gaps and spaces in us and exploit us, but I thought we filled the gaps and holes very well.”

He went on to say, “I knew what sort of game it was going to be, I’ve seen clips of them, so I thought that it would be the right type of game to step up after the Bournemouth one.

“The level goes up again, and so does our gameplay, and that proved to be the case. It was really good in terms of our work off the ball, and our distances between the units was absolutely spot on.

“With our possession, I felt there were times when we could have played it forward quicker, sometimes we were a bit safe, but it’s up to me as a manager to identify those areas to the team and show them where we could have exploited them.

“But we got in good threatening positions and created chances, it was just the final touch… But in terms of where we’re at, it’s another solid block, and we move on again.”

Wednesday now face Wigan Athletic this weekend as they finish up their preparations for 2022/23, and Moore will be hoping that they can wrap things up with a win at the DW Stadium.

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