Sheffield Wednesday new boy shrugs off Hillsborough boos – describes how they’ll bounce back at Plymouth Argyle
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The clash sees two of August’s League One Manager of the Month nominees go head to head at Home Park, with Moore taking on Steven Schumacher with their sides in fourth place and third place respectively.
Both clubs have major ambitions of promotion to the Championship of course, with the level of expectation at Hillsborough made clear last weekend as a section of the Wednesday support loudly expressed their displeasure at a sub-par performance.
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Hide AdBoos at half-time and full-time sat easily enough on the shoulders of new man Michael Ihiekwe, who accepts its a reality of playing for a club with the expectation of Sheffield Wednesday.
“That’s part of being at a big club,” he said on the boos. “At any level, if we’re not playing to par that can happen.
“It’s up to us on the pitch to keep going, to show personality and to keep improving in the game.
“The fans were frustrated because it was a local derby, but we are as well. We just need to keep going, play with confidence and improve.”
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Hide AdMORE: Why Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore is nominated for League One manager of the month award
Darren Moore spoke post-match about the advantage of having a rare free week in the fixture list and that efforts would be doubled to focus in on getting some of the newer members of the squad accustomed to the Wednesday way of doing things.
Ihiekwe agreed, saying time since Barnsley will be hugely important heading into the stern test waiting for them at Plymouth Argyle this weekend.
“It’s a strong squad,” he said. “It’s about kicking now and gelling. We’ve shown in periods of the season that we can do that but we’ve got a lot of new players and we’ve got some time now to train hard and get everyone together.
“It’s about putting time on the training pitch. The fans only see what we put in on a Saturday, but it’s massive in terms of what we achieve in training.
“We’ve got a good squad and a good set of lads, so training is at a top level.
“The way we play, it can be different for new players coming in so now is the time to really focus in on that.”