Sheffield Wednesday: Preparation key to Owls success, insists Carvalhal

Pinpointing opponents weaknesses has been one of the main ingredients behind Sheffield Wednesday's successful season.
Carlos CarvalhalCarlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal

That is the view of Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal as he prepares to take his side to Wolverhampton Wanderers for their final Championship fixture of the regular season.

Wednesday are guaranteed their highest-placed finish in 16 years and have already secured a play-off berth.

Carvalhal, who will field a weakened side at Molineux tomorrow, said: “We try to predict what will happen during the game, that means the players are more confident.

“We know what the opponent can do, and what we can do to them.

“If you go into a dark room and you don’t know what it’s inside, you will be anxious. If you saw the room before and you know there is nothing inside, you can go in there and no problems.

“We try to minimise everything, preview anything, and try to make the players more safe and confident.”

As Carvalhal’s men have underlined on several occasions this season, they relish the big occasions.

They dumped Premier League boys Newcastle United and Arsenal out of the Capital One Cup and have recently put in two strong performances against promotion rivals Derby County and Cardiff City.

He said: “Our team in the challenge of the games we must win, we are very strong, not just in the squad but the performance. We like this adrenaline, we liked to be focused, it’s not a stress but an opportunity to us. The players are doing fantastic and deserve to be in the Play-Offs.

“The way we achieved this is important, out style, the positive football, we create a good brand of Sheffield Wednesday in English football.”