Sheffield Wednesday attacker Kadeem Harris has suggested that Darren Moore has had a positive influence around the club since taking over as manager, and has changed for the better the way they work in training.

Moore took over at Sheffield Wednesday nearly a month ago now and he has now started to pick up results with four points accumulated from the last two Championship matches.

That came after he lost his first three games in charge against Rotherham United, Reading and Norwich City. The Owls’ 2-1 win at Barnsley last time out was their first under him and also gives them hope of survival.

The former Doncaster Rovers manager faces a real uphill battle to keep the Owls in the Championship, but he has experience taking over in such circumstances as he did with West Brom back in 2017/18. He managed to pick up a number of good results for the Baggies in their end-of-season run-in that season, but it was just not enough to survive. He will hope for better this time.

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Harris revealed that Moore is a ‘player’s dream’ and that he has proven to be a really good man-manager during his time at Hillsborough so far. While the attacker also suggested he had changes a lot of things in terms of the intensity around training and also the detail with which he looks to analyse games with the players.

He said: "He [Moore] is a players' dream.

"He is a really, really good manager. A good man-manager.

"He is someone that you can talk to at any time.

"From the first day that he came in, he said that you can knock on his door at any time and he is willing to speak. You don't get that with every single manager that you get.

"I think he is great for the players. He is someone that you can definitely talk to about anything. He has been great for us all.

"We have long meetings before and after games to review matches and what we could be doing better as a team and individually. Training is very specific.

"He wants Sheffield Wednesday to have a real identity. He wants us to be real good in possession and full of energy off the ball, closing down the team and getting the ball back as soon as possible.

"He is trying to demand that from his players day in, day out.

"It is something we need to improve on and I think we will get better at it. The boys have adapted to it quite well so far."

The verdict

This is a glowing assessment of what Moore has been able to bring to the table so far over the last month. It has not been an easy baptism of fire for the new Sheffield Wednesday boss, who might have been fearing the worst when he was beaten in all three of his opening matches in charge. However, performances have largely been getting better and better over the last few weeks.

The win at Barnsley showcased the good work that Moore has been doing, not least in identifying the best way for them to score goals which is to give a constant supply of chances to Jordan Rhodes in the box. While he has also got the players playing with a bit more of a belief again and the fact they could hold on at Oakwell even after letting one in shows the mentality is getting better.

Harris’ comments show that Moore was the right manager to have brought in given the situation the Owls are in at the moment. It is going to take a monumental effort to keep them in the Championship now, but even if he can’t do that the former Doncaster boss has shown that he has the qualities that would be needed to lift the club and deal with relegation if it happened.