Former Sheffield Wednesday player Chris Waddle has admitted that he still believes that the club can achieve their goal of promotion this season despite their recent run of results in League One.

After embarking on a 23-game unbeaten run at this level, the Owls have struggled for form since suffering a 4-2 defeat to Barnsley last month.

This setback was followed by an unexpected loss to Forest Green Rovers as Wednesday were unable to utilise their games in hand over Plymouth Argyle to their advantage.

While the Owls did reclaim top-spot in League One last weekend, they would have been hoping to defeat Cheltenham Town at Hillsborough.

However, despite taking the lead in this fixture, Darren Moore's side were forced to settle for a point in front of their own supporters.

Wednesday have now played one more game than Plymouth, Ipswich Town and Barnsley who are all vying for automatic promotion.

Level on points with Plymouth and just two ahead of Ipswich, the Owls know that they will need to embark on a winning run in order to get over the line in this particular race.

What has Chris Waddle said about Wednesday's promotion hopes?

Making reference to the Owls, Waddle has revealed that he is still confident in the club's ability to secure a return to the Championship this season.

Asked about whether Wednesday can achieve promotion in an interview with BBC Sheffield (as cited by Yorkshire Live), Waddle said: "I don't see why not.

"They have been sitting up at the top for a long, long time.

"Everybody has a blip in the season and, unfortunately, Wednesday's has come at a stage in the run-in where people were talking about these four or five games that if they win they are up, basically.

"Now it is sort of will they get automatics or will they get in the play-offs.

"Ipswich are on a great run.

"People forget that League One is League One for a reason.

"There are going to be ups and downs.

"Consistency is always a problem when you go and play in the lower leagues.

"The players are not Premier League or Championship players.

"They are League One players so sometimes you are going to get bumpy roads and funny results.

"We saw that when Barnsley got beaten at Exeter.

"Exeter are doing alright but you wouldn't have fancied that.

"Derby have blown up and haven't won for a few now.

"They are getting caught up.

"Ipswich are the form team and Barnsley are behind them but they have got to play each other."

Will the Owls finish in the top-two under the guidance of Darren Moore?

Having experienced a blip in form, the pressure is now on Wednesday to respond positively in their upcoming league games.

The Owls are no longer in control of their own fate as Plymouth and Ipswich will both finish in the top-two if they win all of their remaining fixtures.

Whereas this particular scenario is unlikely to happen, it is still imperative that the Owls put the pressure on their promotion rivals by embarking on a winning run of their own.

Wednesday's meeting with Oxford United on Friday could prove to be a turning point in the race for automatic promotion.

If Moore is able to guide his side to victory in this fixture, the Owls could potentially use the confidence gained from this result to push on in their quest for a top-two finish over the course of the coming weeks.