27 August 2022

Darren Moore hails Sheffield Wednesday concentration in Forest Green demolition

27 August 2022

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore praised a professional performance from his side after they blew Forest Green away in a 5-0 victory.

First-half goals from Josh Windass, Barry Bannan, Liam Palmer and Lee Gregory had the hosts 4-0 up by half-time, with Dominic Bernard’s own goal completing the scoring after the break.

The result was the Owls’ second convincing win of the week, after defeating Rochdale 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Moore said: “We got the goals early and kept focused. We took our goals well and at the right time. When you get four in the first half it’s all about concentration levels.

“We spoke at half-time about keeping a clean sheet and adding to the tally and we did that.

“Forest Green took a very expansive shape, so when there was a turnover there were spaces to exploit, but when we won it back we had to capitalise.

“I’m happy for Liam (Palmer). He’s transitioned from centre-back to wing-back and you can see how strong he has been, his fitness levels especially have been excellent.

“It’s pleasing to see elements of what we do on the training ground on a Saturday afternoon. I still feel we’re building things here, we’re still not at the levels I want us to be at, but as the weeks go by we are constantly improving.

“We may have come into this as favourites with our home record, but in this division reputation counts for nothing – you have to earn it and we did today.”

Forest Green boss Ian Burchnall was disappointed with how comfortable the victory was for the home side.

Burchnall said: “We made it too easy today. Goals two and three for me were so avoidable. I don’t even think it was good play; it was just two long diagonals that we don’t defend.

“We’ve got to be able to deal with things like that, especially here. For me, after those two situations happen the game is dead and it becomes about damage limitation.

“We knew it would be challenging with the form they’re in and the players they’ve got. Make no mistake, they have Championship-quality players, but it doesn’t mean we should just roll over and give easy goals away.

“Maybe the occasion got to us. We have to be braver. I think we had a fair amount of territory in the first half, but we didn’t take on the shot, we showed too much respect.

“We do deserve to be in this league and play against big clubs like this, but we didn’t show it today. We’ve had some tough fixtures to start, but we’ll move on and Tuesday night we’ll look to get back on track.”

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