Sheffield Wednesday played out a drab 0-0 stalemate with Swansea City this mid-week, with supporters packed inside Hillsborough let down by a second consecutive blank from their team on their own patch.
At least a share of the spoils were secured come the full-time whistle, as opposed to the recent 2-0 loss in the Championship to Scott Parker’s Burnley, but it was still a display that will concern Danny Rohl in the dug-out.
He will have been particularly underwhelmed by the attacking show on display from his side during the 0-0 affair, with the South Yorkshire outfit failing to register a single shot on target across the forgettable 90 minutes.
Wednesday's woes in attack
The Owls boss must have thought he could reignite his side’s fire in the attacking positions by changing up the leading man up top, with Jamal Lowe given the nod to start over Ike Ugbo.
That wasn’t to be the case, however, with the AFC Bournemouth loanee failing to hit a single shot on target during the course of his time on the Hillsborough turf, as more blanks were frustratingly fired.
The aforementioned Ugbo didn’t fare much better either when given a late run-out in place of the 30-year-old, with the ex-Troyes man failing completely in even testing Lawrence Vigoroux in the Swans net with a single shot from his lacklustre 27-minute cameo.
With only one goal between them in league action so far this campaign, Rohl will be scrambling as to who he could throw into the side ahead of the uninspiring pair moving forward, with Michael Smith standing out as one viable option.
Whilst the Wednesday manager contemplates alterations in attack, Rohl could also be intrigued by the possibility of switching up things all across the pitch, namely down the right channel where Pol Valentin struggled for the Owls against Luke Williams’ men.
Valentin's performance in numbers
The Spanish defender has now notched up 52 appearances in total for the Owls since moving from Sporting Gijon last year, becoming a staple of many of Rohl’s XIs in the process.
But, his showing against Swansea was arguably the flattest of his season to date, with the 27-year-old winning just one duel all night and having fewer touches (30) than James Beadle (40) in goal.
Minutes played
75
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
30
Accurate passes
14/20 (70%)
Accurate crosses
0/1
Accurate long balls
0/1
Big chances missed
1
Possession lost
11x
Total duels won
1/6
Looking at the table above, it was a display Valentin will want to quickly push to one side, with the below-par Wednesday number 14 haphazard with the ball at his feet with only 14 accurate passes registered alongside possession being given up 11 times.
Moreover, the defender had one of the better chances in the game to break the deadlock too, only for Valentin to strike the post from point blank range after a surge forward from Marvin Johnson found him in space.
Consequently, Sheffield Star journalist Alex Miller dished out a middle-of-the-road 6/10 rating to the Wednesday man after the match, stating that the ex-Gijon full-back ‘didn’t get a great deal of chance’ to work his magic across the uneventful match.
This could result in Rohl having a rethink about what personnel he selects down the right for Wednesday’s upcoming Friday night trip to Portsmouth, with the experienced Liam Palmer in with a shout to replace Valentin.
The long-standing Owls servant managed to register one key pass from the bench after coming on for the Spaniard and could unlock basement club Pompey up next, having amassed 19 assists across his decorated stay at Hillsborough to date.
Whatever lineup is selected for the long journey to Fratton Park, Wednesday fans will just hope the entertainment levels are raised up a notch, as the Owls hunt down a win against the division’s leakiest side.
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