Carlos Carvalhal is hoping Wednesday fans will see the ‘real’ Almen Abdi in the coming months after his disappointing start to life at Hillsborough.
Midfielder Abdi, who signed from Premier League Watford at the end of July, has failed to command a regular starting place with Wednesday after impressing in pre-season friendlies against Benfica and Port Vale and was not in the squad against QPR last weekend.
Carvalhal, who believes the player could be suffering from missing pre-season training at Watford, says he has spoken with Abdi about the situation and said: “I talked with him and said I felt he needed like a new pre-season, probably a second life.”
The head coach said the club will not give up on the player and will help him to give the maximum on the pitch, adding: “He is in the process to be better and we hope and we are sure when he comes back he will come back more strong and show the things he can do.
“He is a nice guy, with a nice personality, a very good professional and he is also a good player.”
Carvalhal said: “It is not easy with the competition in midfield. Jones is doing very well, Kieran Lee is an excellent player and Barry Bannan has a fantastic dynamic.”
He added: “We brought in Abdi because we think he can also help the team.
“He was far away from his level, we tried to understand the reasons for this, we discovered the reasons and he is in the process to be back in the better conditions that we will try to create with him.”