Sheffield Wednesday: Carvalhal unsurprised over Owls' promotion push

The Wednesday chief made the admission ahead of the first leg of their Play-Off Semi-Final encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion tonight.

Carvalhal, who has virtually a fully-fit squad at his disposal, said: “Since the first day talking to the players, I believed we would reach the Play-Offs.

“When they were looking shocked, at me talking about promotion, they were looking at me thinking maybe this guy is crazy.

“We would bring players in, they didn’t know that then, but I remember this conversation.

“I had this expectation, even though I didn’t know everything about the Championship.

“But I knew what we had at that moment, what we bring in the future, and what we could do together, to play like a team.

“That’s why I told them I believed we would be in the Play-Offs, but after this I never talked about the Play-Offs again. It’s only now I remember what I said at the start of the season.”

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There will be a sell-out crowd at Hillsborough and Carvalhal says the team are raring to go for the ‘new Championship’. insists the Owls are underdogs to reach Wembley but has challenged the club’s supporters to get behind them.

“It’s a big challenge to our fans again,” he said. “We cry, we smile, we have a big pain, we have a lot of happiness together during the season. Our fans follow us all the time in the good and bad moments.

“We have something in the air which is very positive between my players and fans.”

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