Sheffield Wednesday centre-back Dom Iorfa has warned automatic promotion rivals Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town that the Owls "haven't been close to our best" and have "still got levels to go up to".
Wednesday were one of the favourites for League One promotion before a ball was kicked but sit third in the table – a point back from Ipswich and three back from league leaders Plymouth.
Darren Moore's squad is packed with undeniable quality but they've rarely looked at their brilliant best this term.
Rather than view that as a negative, Iorfa believes it is something that should worry Ipswich and Plymouth in the race for the two automatic promotion spots.
Speaking to The Sheffield Star, he has fired a warning shot to Wednesday's closest League One rivals about how dangerous they could be when they really find their groove.
He said: "We're third in the table and we know as a group we haven’t been close to our best football.
“That has to be scary for the other teams in the league, that we’ve still got levels to go up to and that we can take our game to another place.
“We have to take this game by game and if we can continue to go where we’re going, we can do good things this season. If you compare where we’re at after the same amount of games last season, we’re in a better place and that says it all. Hopefully we can kick on from here.”
Wednesday will be looking to close their gap on the top two tomorrow when they travel to Pride Park to take on Derby County.
The Verdict
There's some logic to this warning from Iorfa.
He's right that we've not seen the best of this Wednesday side in anything but glimpses and despite that, they're close on the tail of Ipswich and Plymouth.
The current top two are deserving of their place in the automatic promotion spots but there's a long way to go yet and if Moore's team can find their feet, as they did in the second half of last term, they will pile significant pressure on those above them.
The Owls will want to have found that form by the start of February as they play both Plymouth (04/02) and Ipswich (11/02) in a seven-day period.