Sheffield Wednesday loanee Bailey Peacock-Farrell believes their defensive record will give the Owls a 'psychological edge' over their upcoming opponents, speaking to the Sheffield Star ahead of this weekend's tie against Morecambe.

Darren Moore's side are yet to concede a goal in any of their five competitive games so far this season, narrowly losing to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town on penalties in the first round of the Carabao Cup but remaining unbeaten in the third tier.

With this, they have managed to record three wins and a draw in their four League One games and currently sit at the top of the table, sending a clear statement of intent to their promotion rivals in what previously looked to be a very competitive third tier this season.

 

 

A few of those who were expecting to be fighting at the top end of the table right from the start of the campaign including Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town currently find themselves in and around the relegation zone, with Lincoln City seemingly suffering a hangover from their play-off final defeat as they currently sit in 17th.

However, Wycombe Wanderers and Portsmouth are currently level on points with Wednesday, with fellow promotion-chasers Sunderland sitting just one point behind them in fourth.

There are still 42 league games left to go this season, but shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell believes his side have a useful weapon in their armoury with their defence.

Speaking to the Sheffield Star about this asset, the Northern Ireland international said: "When people see that we’ve not conceded again, I think that sets the tone for the league and shows how solid we are.

"Teams are going to know that it’s going to be really difficult to score past us.

"You build on that and it becomes a bit of a fear for teams that are coming up against us that we won’t give many chances.

"It’s probably a good little psychological edge."

The Verdict:

Fair play to Darren Moore, no one was expecting Sheffield Wednesday to make such a quick start to the season after so much turbulence behind the scenes early on in the summer.

A lot of credit needs to go to the manager and the recruitment team for doing so well in the transfer window after only being able to bring in players at the start of last month - and in this particular case - Peacock-Farrell, Liam Palmer, Chey Dunkley, Dominic Iorfa and Jack Hunt should receive their fair share of praise for keeping it tight at the back.

Iorfa has done brilliantly to make a good comeback from a previous long-term injury and the signing of Jack Hunt was nothing short of a masterstroke. Their defence will continue to be key to any promotion charge.

Speaking about the club more generally, their recruitment has been overshadowed by Ipswich Town's own recruitment drive but the Owls deserved to be commended for their business and it has teed them up perfectly for the remainder of the season.

Although they needed to recruit players of high quality to help them in their quest to return to the second tier, depth will be just as important throughout a tough 46-game campaign as shown by Josh Windass' injury and these 13 new faces will help to provide that in each position.

And if their recent link to 29-year-old winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is anything to go by, they might not be done in the window just yet.