Sheffield Wednesday defender Dominic Iorfa believes that he and his new centre back partner Julian Borner are establishing an effective link-up, having been thrust together earlier in the season.

Iorfa, who is more naturally a right-back, was first forced to linkup with summer signing Borner in the centre of The Owls' backline when club captain Tom Lees picked up an injury ahead of the Yorkshire club's clash with QPR at the end of August.

The pair have started every game since then together in the centre of Wednesday's defence, and are expected to do so again when they host Wigan Athletic at Hillsborough on Saturday.

Speaking about his partnership with Borner ahead of that match, Iorfa was quoted by The Star as saying: "We conceded a goal at Hull but other than that I think we have defended well together.

"He [Börner] has his strengths and I have mine."

Discussing the differences between the pair, Iorfa continued: "I am a bit quicker and can cover in behind him and he is a bit more solid in terms of position in that sense so I think we are complementing each other well."

Reflecting on how their relationship has developed in the past few weeks, the 24-year-old added: "I have come a long way since QPR where I was thrown in at the last minute and I hadn't really played there (centre-back). You could see as a partnership that we didn't really know each other games that well. I can say I didn't really play well and I think he can say the same.

"But since then we have kicked on and we have put in good performances together. I think we understand each other's game. I know what he is going to do and he knows what I am going to do as well. It is about building that relationship."

Assessing his time in a new central defensive role form a personal perspective, Iorfa went onto claim: "It is the first time in my career that I have actually had a run of games at centre-back so I am still learning the position.

"I feel I have shown in the last few weeks that I am getting better in the position and I think our performances suggest that as well. It is something I would like to settle down and try and cement a place as a centre-half.

"But at the end of the day, I have played many games at right-back so we don't know what will happen. I have got to keep performing and keep doing well and whatever happens, happens."

Wednesday go into their clash with Wigan on Saturday ninth in the Championship table, after Garry Monk's unbeaten start to life as The Owls manager came to an end on Tuesday night, with a 1-0 defeat to Hull City at The KCOM Stadium.

The Verdict

I think that both Iorfa and Borner deserve credit for their performances over the past few weeks.

Having only joined from Arminia Bielefeld in the summer, Borner has taken to English football impressively, and it is no surprise that he has received plenty of plaudits for the way he has played for Wednesday.

It feels as though Iorfa too, deserves some credit. It is worth noting that he was not exactly a regular for The Owls last season, so to know be putting in a string of impressive performances is not exactly his natural one surely means he too is entitled to a decent amount of praise.

You feel that Tom Lees' role as club captain means he will be back in the centre of defence once he returns from injury, but Monk will surely be comforted to know that he has other options to call on in this position, should any injury concerns arise again in that area of the park.

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