Sheffield Wednesday’s on-loan star Jacob Murphy has opened up about the club’s current poor run of form and how it has affected his personal mentality, citing chants about the players not being fit to wear the shirt.

Having joined on-loan from Newcastle United in the summer, Murphy hit the ground running with a goal two minutes into his Hillsborough debut against Barnsley. The tricky winger has been an integral part of Garry Monk’s plans, despite being signed before he came into the role in September.

Times have been a lot tougher since the turn of the New Year for the Owls, however, with just two league wins in 2020 against Leeds United and Charlton Athletic, with Murphy netting the opener in the former of those two victories.

Wednesday have slumped well out of the play-off running as they sit eight points off the pace and nine points above the relegation zone. Murphy’s form hasn’t slumped that dramatically in that time, though, as he managed to scoop up the club’s Player of the Month award for February.

Low-points for the Owls in recent months have been 5-0 thrashings at the hands of Blackburn Rovers and Brentford, a 3-0 defeat to Reading ,along with a very limp 1-0 loss to strugglers Luton Town, where the fans weren’t holding back in their post-match reaction.

However, speaking to the Sheffield Star, the winger wasn’t too pleased with how he and the side have been playing in the last few months. He had this to say: “I was embarrassed, hearing the fans say we weren’t fit to wear the shirt, that cut deep.

“It hurt me to hear that, but that spurred me on to keep fighting, keep running.

“It was 4-0 at the time when they were singing that, but they pay good money to watch us play. We need to give them effort and show that we care.

"Was it deserved? We were losing 4-0 so probably it was, at the time. The boys are willing to fight for this club.

“We are 100 per cent behind the manager. 

“He gives us everything we need come match day. When we are on the grass, it is down to us. I think he has been brilliant, a fantastic manager.”

Can you name the goalscorer from Wednesday's last 16 opening day fixtures?

The Verdict:

It’s not surprising that the fans are expressing such strong discontent after some truly awful results and performances.

The players are human though and the chants of such anger will get to them if they aren’t playing well, especially a player only there on loan.

Murphy’s progress under Monk has been commendable, however, and he can be proud of his work in a Wednesday shirt so far.

There’s no telling where his future lies, but the Owls could do much worse than bringing him in again next season.