Sheffield Wednesday were beaten by South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley at Oakwell on Tuesday evening as their lack of form in pre-season was extended.
The Owls were taken aback by the pace at which the home side started the game and fell behind as early as the 6th minute when Martin Devaney slotted past Arron Jameson.
That early opener more or less set the tone for the first half as Barnsley continued to test the young Owls keeper while Wednesday attacks were few and far between.
The visitors finally picked up the pace after the restart with the strike pairing of Tudgay and Mellor both having efforts on target but the result was sealed against the run of play, Lovre doubling the lead with a header from Devaney’s cross.
Sheffield Wednesday have now lost 3 and drawn 1 of their last 4 pre-season games scoring just 2 goals and they have failed to find the net in the last two. It has been stressed on a number of occasions that the emphasis is on fitness over results but winning games breeds confidence and there isn’t a great deal that the Owls can take from their recent displays in that respect
It would be unwise to read too much into pre-season results and paint a picture of doom and gloom but there are nonetheless matters of concern with little over a week to go to the opening game against Dagenham & Redbridge.
Alan Irvine fielded a number of players from the start that many would not expect to be in the starting 11 come the kick-off to the season but that in itself raises some viable questions.
With just one pre-season friendly to come there is little time to test the preferred formation and starting line up in a proper match. Having signed eight new players over the course of the summer so far and add to that the fact the club will also have a new first choice goalkeeper next season it is reasonable to assume that it will take some time for the team to gel. Whilst this is likely to have been worked on intensively during training the closest scenario to a league match that the club have the opportunity to test this in are the pre-season matches.
It will be interesting to see what starting eleven takes to the field in the final warm-up game away to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.