Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton Wanderers: The Manager's Corner
Sheffield Wednesday's 2026/27 campaign got underway with a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
Jamal Lowe’s fine finish was the difference at Hillsborough as the Owls progressed into the second round of this year’s competition, and they will find out tomorrow night who awaits them in the next stage.
It was by no means a vintage performance by either side at S6, but Wednesday will have been delighted to knock out Championship opposition ahead of their return to League One action, and the clean sheet will have been welcomed as well.
Here’s some of what the two men in charge had to say after the game:
Henrik Pedersen
“We are here for winning football games and we have to get used to winning… Today we find a way to win, next Saturday we have to find another way to win. But of course it means a lot, it means everything in this situation where we are. We have to learn to win and find a way to win.
“How the boys keep concentrating, keep going, keep going… We made substitutions a little bit earlier than we did last season and I think we did it well, also when the players came on.
"It was a great goal, but it was also a Jamal with intensity, a Jamal who kept running. And this is one of the things we have spoken about in the team, that we generally want to change a little bit earlier to increase the intensity."
Steven Schumacher
“I’m disappointed to lose the tie, especially in the manner that we did. I felt we were the better team, much the better team, up until the red card, so it’s had a massive impact on the game.
“We had three big chances in the first half where we should be out of sight, so that’s on us to be more clinical with the opportunities that we said to the players would be there if we play as well as we did…
“I'm more positive with how we've played, just disappointed to be out of the tie, but I suppose if you're looking on the bright side we don't have a mid-week fixture for whenever it was going to be, so we'll just concentrate on the league for now."
Meanwhile, on Xavier Simons’ crazy red card, the Bolton boss added, “From the angle I’ve seen it from this side, it looks like Xav has reacted and lashed out, which he knows you can’t do, it’s a poor decision, and it’s a decision that you wouldn’t expect from him.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him do that since he’s been here, and I’m sure he’ll be disappointed with it.”