Sheffield Wednesday: Relaxed Carvalhal looks to shore up Owls backline

Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal has revealed it took him less than three minutes to explain to his players where they went wrong last time out.
Carlos CarvalhalCarlos Carvalhal
Carlos Carvalhal

Promotion hopefuls Wednesday made a series of uncharacteristic defensive mistakes in their 4-1 thumping at Bristol City a week ago.

Carvalhal told The Star: “It was a collective problem so it is easy to correct.

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“We showed them in less then three minutes of images why we lost and they understood it clearly. We have corrected everything.

“In the marathon, you have some situations like that. It is a big problem if you don’t look at why you win and lose.”

Carvalhal, formerly of Sporting Lisbon and Besiktas, expects a positive reaction from his team when they welcome Ipswich Town to Hillsborough today.

“It (Bristol City) was not the end of the world, although sometimes it looks like that,” he said. “We must be positive.

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“If you asked all the people at the beginning of the season if you expect with five games remaining to be in this comfortable position, I think we would have taken that. The players, the chairman, the fans have grown up together.

“We must be proud of what we have done. We did very well in the Capital One Cup and the Championship but we have not won anything. We can’t live with the past. We are not museums. We live in the present and prepare for the future.”

Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood and centre-back Glenn Loovens are pushing for first-team recalls after recovering from illness and ankle problems respectively.

Carvalhal said: “I’m happy when we have all the players available to us.

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“Glenn is our captain. He’s always there in the good and difficult times. He’s a big presence and is there when we need him.”

Sam Hutchinson is on the mend following glandular fever but the versatile player is unlikely to be risked against eighth-placed Ipswich.