Darren Moore reflected on Wednesday’s inability to break down Gillingham’s deep block tactics in today’s disappointing goalless draw.
The Owls boss said: “I don’t think we showed enough impetus in the first half today. We had a lot of the ball but first half we were too slow, too mundane.
“We didn’t show enough creativity or guile. They sat in a deep block all afternoon, five across the 18-yard box, four in front of them.
“We put Mendez-Laing and Berahino on and tried to get the goal. I took a defender off and put an attacker on.
“We had a couple of chances second half but we didn’t threaten enough.”
The Wednesday back three, with Chey Dunkley replacing Dominic Iorfa, looked indecisive at times and, not surprisingly so, after another change of personnel at the back and a defensive trio that hadn’t played together before.
Moore explained: “We had to leave Dominic Iorfa on the bench because he suffered a bit of soreness over the last two games.
“After losing Lewis Gibson and Liam Palmer, the last thing I wanted to do was lose a third defender.
“So Chey Dunkley came back in. He’s dominant, wants to win first contacts.
“You have to remember he’s been out a little while. I thought he’d be ideal today because Gillingham play a lot of balls forward into the boy Oliver. Chey’s eager but now he’s back in, I think he’ll settle down.
“He’s got his first 90 minutes. He’ll feel pleased he’s come back in and kept a clean sheet so I don’t see any problems at all.”
When asked about facing other sides who will try the same tactics against us, Moore added: “We’ve come up against two difficult opponents this week in terms of how they’ve set up. It’s up to me and the coaching staff now, in this coming week, to pick it all apart.
“It’s up to us to find a way to win these types of game.”