Sheffield Wednesday: Carlos Carvalhal pleased with points haul from hectic period

Wednesday secured a second consecutive Hillsborough derby success in the space of five days, beating Rotherham United 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of a penalty in added on time by Steven Fletcher.

Back-to-back victories and clean sheets over Barnsley and the Millers have put Carvalhal’s side back on track after their disappointing recent reversal at Reading.

“I think we could have achieved more points against Reading but we have won four out of the last five which is not bad,” Carvalhal told The Star.

“We are in the competition to win games and we want to do better.

“Rotherham was not an easy game. It was a local derby and Rotherham had a lot to play for.

“With Rotherham, we have not beaten them at home for a long time. They do well here and that can get into players’ minds.

“They played strong and compact, they are fighting for their lives, so we broke down the walls in many ways.”

With Barry Bannan ruled out by a foot injury, Carvalhal elected to hand Almen Abdi his first start in nearly two months. The big-money signing from Watford showed some neat touches and whipped in a number of danagerous set pieces before being forced off with a shoulder problem after 34 minutes.

Carvalhal said: “Almen was disappointed to come off because he wanted to play but this is the life of being a footballer. We were controlling the game at that moment but these things happen. We don’t know how serious it is. We will see how he is.”

Wednesday have confirmed Will Buckley faces a spell on the sidelines after undergoing shoulder surgery. The winger suffered the knock against Preston North End earlier this month.

“Buckley has had surgery and is out,” said Carvalhal, who was forced to take Kieran Lee (hip) off at half-time last weekend. “He’s one more player who will recover in the future.”

The Owls boss believes his side were worthy winners against the lowly Rotherham.

Carvalhal said: “We were very patient and we deserved the victory. We changed the way we played, we pushed more men forward, and when this happens you normally get rewards.

“We tried to force things at the end and in the end justice was done even though Rotherham fought a lot. “