'Not good enough...' - Sheffield Wednesday boss makes Owls admission after Oxford United loss

Henrik Pedersen admitted that Sheffield Wednesday weren't up to scratch in the first half as they lost to Oxford United.

It was a battle of soon-to-be League One clubs as the Owls visited the U’s on Saturday afternoon, with the hosts being relegated before kick off thanks to results elsewhere.

Matt Bloomfield’s side went on to secure their biggest win of the season as they claimed a 4-1 victory, with Will Lankshear bagging a brace, Will Vaulks scoring a third and Myles Peart-Harris scoring the fourth. Owls teenager, Will Grainger, scored the visitors’ consolation.

Speaking after the game, Pedersen gave his thoughts on the performance, saying the ‘connection’ wasn’t right with his side.

“You could see that we were tired mentally,” he said. “And it meant that we lost the connection. All that we do normally do to get good performances is based on connections between each other. It’s one team, one game plan, one swarm when we’re pressing. We’re one team, because we need each other to make good performances.

“Today, especially in the first half, it was too much where we didn’t have the energy to bring the connection together. It was a little bit of ‘I work, you rest, you work, I rest’, and it was not the team that we wanted to be.

“I think the first half was better than the first half, but as a total package it was not enough… The second half our pressing was better, much more controlled, but formation is one thing - intensity is another. The collective relationship was not good enough in that first half.”