‘They know’ – Sheffield Wednesday coach talks standards after Sheffield United draw

Holdsworth oversaw the U21’s game against Sheffield United on Friday night after manager, Neil Thompson, had spent the week with the first team prior to Danny Röhl’s arrival, and was pleased with what he saw against the Owls’ city rivals.

Twice they fought back against the side currently top of the Professional Development League to draw 2-2, a result that maintained a start to the campaign that has seen them lose just once so far.

It’s already a huge improvement on the 2022/23 season, and after eight games they’re now just six points short of their entire tally over 28 matches last time out. Holdsworth thinks that there’s more to come.

Speaking to The Star after the game at Hillsborough, he said, “We said in the dressing room that we’re happy that we didn’t get beat, that was part of the remit, but we’re also disappointed that we didn’t go on and grab the game by the scruff of the neck - especially in the second half when we had momentum.

“Bailey (Cadamarteri) got his goal, but then they scored against the run of play which changed the game again. It was difficult, but thankfully Luke (Cook) got a great goal at the end to get us back in it…

“Some of these lads have been here since they were eight, they’ve been here a long, long time, and they know what we expect and the standards we set. I’m not saying the standards weren’t up to scratch last year, but I think from a dressing room point of view the lads tell you.

“They know, and I don’t think the performances hit those standards that we expect last year - but this U21s group is young, there are still a lot of first year pros in there. You have people like Ciaran Brennan and Jay Glover to aid them along, but it’s still a young group. Nights like this are all part of their development.”

Wednesday’s U21s aren’t back in action again until October 24^th when they visit Coventry City.