‘You can’t dwell on the past’ – Sam Winnall on why Sheffield Wednesday are looking to the future under Steve Bruce

The Owls front man, who returned to the starting team before the international break for the home win over Blackburn Rovers, says Steve Bruce’s side will not dwell on the past as they look to do something special and build on the good mood in the camp.

Winnall told the Star: “There is a good mood. We kind of understand that there is a long way to go still. There’s going to be eight big, big games after the international break and it’s not going to be easy.

“In this league you see it every week, there’s surprises and no points are given to anyone so we have just got to work hard and just keep doing what we are doing because it has been working and we’ll hope it continues to work after the international break.

“You can’t dwell on the past too much and you can’t use the past as an excuse for the future so what we are doing is seeing it as we’ve got eight games left, we are two points off the play-offs - what could we achieve? Anything is possible.”

The first test waiting for Wednesday once the squad reunite is Nathan Jones’ Stoke City, who currently sit 16th in the league table on their return to the Championship after relegation from the Premier League last season.

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Jones’ squad come into the match on the back of three 0-0 draws in a row, with their last win at the start of March against Nottingham Forest.

Despite the challenges Stoke will pose in Saturday’s match, Winnall insists the Owls dressing room is full of confidence that a top six finish is achievable.

“We are an ambitious group, we are a group that want to succeed. We have a dressing room full of people who have been successful all throughout their career so why not?

“Why not think that we can go and do something that was never expected of us?

“I think that’s the attitude we have got going into the last eight games of the season.”