Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Adam Reach has praised the team’s mental strength following the difficult circumstances they entered the season in.

Sheffield Wednesday began this season without a permanent manager following the controversial departure of Steve Bruce in July, meaning Lee Bullen had to take up the role of caretaker manager for the beginning of the season.

Since then, the Owls have appointed Garry Monk on a permanent basis and seen results pick up to a point where they see themselves firmly in the promotion mix.

Their most recent result was when a very impressive performance more than earned a 0-0 draw with Leeds United at Hillsborough where the home side could have arguably deserved more from the game. 

These circumstances have been less than ideal for the South Yorkshire club, and the players have had to do well to adjust twice to two different managers since the start of pre-season.

After the weekend’s draw against Leeds, Adam Reach spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield (quotes sourced from The Star) about how the players have coped, he said: "I think the players themselves have got to take a really big amount of credit because we have had to fight through adversity this summer.

"It is not ideal losing your manager that close to a season and then we didn't have a permanent manager for a while. I think we have done excellent to be where we are in the league.

"You could have seen teams really easily just get in freefall and drop down that league and end up having too much to do.

"But we have stuck in there and got ourselves in a good position and finally I think we have got a manager who is the right man at the right time and we have got the quality of players.

"We have got someone who is improving every player. I think everyone can admit they have improved in some area under him and we need to keep that going."

After the weekend’s results, Wednesday have moved down to fifth and face a struggling Blackburn side on Saturday.  Reach also commented on how the side can push on from their recent run, he added: "There is plenty more work to do. There are still areas we can improve on and we are always striving to get better."

The Verdict

Adam Reach is spot on with his comments about how well Wednesday have done so far this season.

A lot of promotion contenders start slowly regardless of how settled their pre-season was, so to see the Owls already pushing for the top two despite having their third manager since the start of July is a commendable effort.

Garry Monk’s side will be looking to continue their strong form by taking maximum points against an out-of-form Blackburn team.