Tony Pulis has said he's frustrated at the lack of time he's had with the Sheffield Wednesday players on the training pitch since taking charge.

The Owls are preparing to face Coventry City on Saturday - a fixture which will be their ninth match in a frantic four-week period.

Unfortunately for the South Yorkshire side it hasn't been a happy month with the club failing to win any of those matches since Pulis took charge.

While the busy schedule is the same for every club in the league, Pulis has expressed his disappointment at the lack of time he's been able to spend with his players as he looks to get to grips with the frailties in the squad.

Speaking to the press, as quoted by Yorkshire Live, Pulis said: "I have always enjoyed a challenge. I have always enjoyed doing stuff that people say you can’t do. I have always enjoyed being an underdog rather than being at the top of the tree.

"From building a football club at Gillingham, Portsmouth, other clubs, where you are swimming against the tide, you hope the tide turns and you swim with it for a while.

"This is another challenge. It has got different aspects to it. It has got different gradients. A lot steeper at times than I thought was going to be the case.

"The thing we concern ourselves as football managers the most about is trying to get the results mentally and physically right for Saturday."

He added: "I have been disappointed that I have not been able to have a full week working with the players and nail everything down Monday to Friday. That is one of my strengths.

"I was hoping and praying when I came here that the grounds would open up and the supporters would be in and I could personally rally them. One of the great pulling points of this football club after speaking to Meggy [Gary Megson] and everybody...Gary said that 20,000 people would turn up to Hillsborough just to watch the grass grow.

"When they are needed, these supporters really, really get behind the team. We have not got that at the moment and maybe we are missing that more than other clubs."

The big festive Sheffield Wednesday quiz: Can you get 20/20?

 

The Verdict

While complaints about the busy schedule are futile given that it's the same for everyone, you do have to sympathise with Tony Pulis.

Given that he's new to the squad he could have really benefitted from some time on the training ground to get his players whipped into shape.

That hasn't happened, but with a week until their next fixture the Welshman will be hoping that he can spend plenty of time working with his players next week.