Clear indication given on where Sheffield Wednesday sit in terms of Championship budgets

The Owls are struggling through the opening weeks of their return to the second tier and on Friday evening face the challenge of collecting their first win in what is their ninth match of the campaign.

A whirlwind summer transfer window saw what has been perceived to be a relatively frugal outlay in what was a vast squad turnover, with signings believed to have arrived in the form of low transfer fees and loans.

The Championship is a division of huge diversity in terms of the size of team budgets, with clubs holding Premier League parachute payments and vast investment operating alongside less wealthy sides.

Asked of his understanding of where Wednesday sit in the table of ‘haves and have-nots’, manager Xisco suggested their budget is one that sits somewhere in midtable.

“Our team is not at a level to stay at the bottom,” he told The Star. “What I understand is that our team is at a level to stay in the middle.

“We have a big job to arrive in the middle. We need to put our focus on the first win and getting it on Friday.

“After that what is our possibility to arrive [where they can finish]? We will see.

“Right now we are not thinking about that, we are thinking about the first win. Then we will focus on the second. Right now we have a big challenge. Some teams have big budgets and some teams do not.

“I enjoy this moment. I try to give my best and I am trying to find some more for Friday to get the win.”

A mood of unrest surrounds the club at current, with passionate supporter ire aimed both at the dugout and boardroom.

Sunderland are next up and in their pre-match press calls, both Barry Bannan and Xisco made clear their hope to repair that feeling of frustration with a three-point haul.

“The first win will be important so we can take out the stress,” he said. “I think people are speaking about the first win, first win, first win. It is stress.

“At some moments in games I feel the people have stress. We need to clear this situation and the stress. We need to improve and win. This is my focus. If we have a better performance we will be closer to the win. This is where I put my focus.

“We are building one team in our situation. We are very far from what we need. If we win Friday we must think about the next one. There are 38 games more. The team must be ready.”