Owls defiant in battle to avoid drop
SHEFFIELD Wednesday assistant manager Jamie Smith insists his side still believe they can avoid relegation to League One.
Owls boss Darren Moore, who missed Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at QPR as he is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, faces a huge task in trying to keep the club in the Championship.
They are seven points adrift of safety with just six matches left to play this season.
The first of those comes this evening when promotion-chasing Swansea City visit Hillsborough.
Asked if the players still felt they could stay up, Smith said: “Yes. We’ve got no choice.
“We’ll watch the match back, learn from it, reflect on it and go again.
“We’ll fight for all 18 points that are left available. “That’s our mentality. “It is a big blow, but we don’t get too high with wins or too low with losses.
“We’ll just keep fighting and going for every point we can.”
Wednesday looked to have breathed fresh hope into their chances of staying up over the Easter period when they crushed Cardiff City 5-0 at Hillsborough, a win built on an impressive opening in which they scored three goals in the opening 25 minutes.
But that new-found optimism disappeared on Saturday with their defeat in West London.
Looking ahead to Swansea’s visit, Smith added: “It’s a massive game.
“They’re all big games and we’ll keep striving and driving to get the results.
“It’s another tough test and another top team in the division.
“They are looking to get promotion or in the play-offs themselves so it will be a tough game. “They are a good footballing team.” Andre Green has also told his Wednesday team-mates to keep going in their battle to avoid relegation.
Green, a second-half substitute in the defeat at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, posted on his Instagram: “Giving up isn’t an option!”