Sheffield Wednesday: In-form Steven Fletcher bids to maintain goal-scoring run against Fulham

Gary Hooper enjoyed an impressive purple patch of form under Carlos Carvalhal in a turbulent campaign.

Tomorrow, Steven Fletcher will look to emulate Hooper's goal-scoring run when Wednesday entertain Fulham. The Scotland international has netted in his last three outings against Preston North End, Queens Park Rangers and Huddersfield Town.

New Owls chief Garry Monk knows first hand how difficult a striker Fletcher is to contain.

"I’ve played against Fletch – I’m not that old," he joked.

The former defender reportedly tried to sign Fletcher from Sunderland when he managed Swansea City earlier in his career. One national newspaper suggested Monk pondered tabling a £4m bid.

When quizzed on the rumour at his pre-match press conference, Monk denied the claims, saying: “I could never afford that! No.”

Fletcher has excelled this calendar year, finding the back of the net on 12 occasions.

But Monk reckons the 32-year-old can get even better.

"There’s more to come from all the strikers, Steven Fletcher, all of them," said Monk, who is unlikely to be able to call upon the services of Tom Lees (hamstring) this weekend. "It’s for me to help them understand what, and allow them with their ability and quality, to go and express that.

"Since coming into management, I have seen a lot of all the (Wednesday) players. You have a good idea of what they are capable of. But the truth comes when you are stood in front of them on a day-to-day basis and I can see a lot of room for improvement.

"Right now, we are just concentrating on getting that competitiveness and mentality right, to raise the standards, and then work on the quality as we go along.

"I have a good group here and I am enjoying working with them. They know the demands are going to be raised, each day, each week, and they understand that. They have been very responsive.

"We need to be in a position to win, or take points from the game, which gives you longer to work.

"But it’s a difficult league, Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday. It’s very difficult to get all the training across because you can’t work too intensively with the players.

"We have another international break coming up and that will be another chance to get a big block of work done. That’s life in the Championship."