Darren Moore pleased with Sheffield Wednesday’s ‘concentration levels’

Posted Sunday, January 22, 2023 by PA

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore admitted his side were made to work for their 1-0 victory over Fleetwood at Hillsborough.

A first-half goal from Marvin Johnson was enough to give Wednesday the points with Fleetwood having frustrated the home side for large parts of the game.

Moore, who saw Lee Gregory miss a stoppage-time penalty, said: “The game was messy and I have to give credit to the players, the concentration levels were excellent once again.

“We know how dangerous Fleetwood can be and that they were going to ask us questions. They kept coming and made it difficult for us.

“Getting clean sheets gives you a great chance of winning games. I think we’re averaging a clean sheet something like every other game and we want that to continue.

“We had chances and it could have been more comfortable. I did feel in possession we were wasteful on occasion and we didn’t exploit the spaces.

“I think we did some great defensive work. Barring the save from Cameron (Dawson) at the end we didn’t give away many chances. I’m pleased with the goal, Marvin’s chance was difficult and he took it really well.

“There is a big expectation on us and we’re not alien to that. There’s resilience in this team now but there’s always something more to aim for, regardless of the result.

“It’s another good three points for us and now we look on to Cheltenham on Tuesday night.”

Fleetwood boss Scott Brown feels his side need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

He said: “I think in parts we played really well. We defended well as a team and we kept our shape.

“I think we played really well in the first half up until the goal. It is a little bit disappointing, we played some good football but overall I felt it wasn’t the best of games.

“We needed to show more quality and be more ruthless. When you come to a place like this you’re not going to get a lot of chances.

“In the second half we locked them in and restricted them well. We had a bit of possession but didn’t create too many chances.

“We need to score more goals. We had the chances late on and you’ve got to take those chances against the top teams.

“The penalty wasn’t a penalty. Jay (Lynch) got a touch on the ball and you need those decisions to go your way, especially at a big venue like this.

“We’re sat on 29 points and I’m not happy with that, we need to get higher up the league. We now have a huge game against Portsmouth on Tuesday night.”