Sheffield Wednesday produced another largely lacklustre display on Saturday afternoon as they went down to a 1-0 defeat away to Scunthorpe United.
The only goal of the game was scored just before the 20 minute mark when ex-Sheffield United attacker Jonathan Forte weaved himself into space before beating Owls keeper Richard O’Donnell from outside the penalty area.
The closest that Wednesday came to an equaliser was a Marcus Tudgay volley midway through the first-half that rattled the crossbar. O’Donnell made a few tidy saves to keep Wednesday in the game and Tommy Miller fired a couple of decent efforts just wide in either half but in truth there was little to enthuse both sets of supporters as Scunthorpe held out.
Managers, players and most fans alike will state that little should be read into the results of pre-season friendlies as building up match fitness ahead of the new season is the priority. However, the closer these matches come to the start of the season the more the team and tactics should begin to take shape, with two more warm-up games remaining Wednesday clearly have plenty to work on.
With the amount of new signings that Wednesday have made it is understandably going to take time for the team to gel but hopefully the upcoming games against Barnsley and Doncaster will give a clearer idea of what the formation and starting line-up may be. Darren Potter continues to struggle somewhat in a four man midfield where there is too much rigidity and little movement ahead of him. He may perhaps be better suited to a 4-3-3 line up where a holding midfielder such as young Liam Palmer, who has shown a lost of promise in pre-season so far, of Giles Coke, who is yet to play, would give him more support to move forward while an attacking three may give him more options and movement ahead of him.
If the Owls are to go with 4-4-2 then Miller could be the better choice in central midfield, but again he would need a solid figure alongside him and other than Johnson nobody has really done enough to stake a firm claim for a place in the side. Sedgwick and Teale seem to be much the same though Daniel Jones, who can play at left-back or left midfield has at least shown a good turn of pace.
Clinton Morrison will hopefully get the chance to prove what he can offer before the season commences and decisions also have to be made defensively with Lewis Buxton failing to make the most of the opportunities he has been given to impress in pre-season.
At least the last three warm-up games the Owls have played means it is unlikely that they will go into the new season suffering from overconfidence or complacency.