Danny Rohl has been speaking to the press ahead of the meeting with Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon, and has revealed how he intends to support Ike Ugbo through his goalscoring drought.
After his heroics in keeping Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship last season, there were big expectations around Ike Ugbo upon his permanent transfer to the Owls in the summer.
However, Ugbo has failed to score in the league this season, and has just one goal in the League Cup to his name in 17 games.
Suffice to say, Ugbo is not looking like one of the most effective summer signings for Sheffield Wednesday so far, and Danny Rohl now faces the dilemma of whether to stick or twist with his striker.
Ike Ugbo will get support from Danny Rohl through bad patch
In his press conference on Thursday afternoon (via the Sheffield Wednesday YouTube channel), Rohl was asked about the problems facing Ugbo, and what he intends to do about it moving forward.
Rohl said: “I think we look at the whole picture with him. We signed him last year on loan in a situation where no one trusted him and he was on the bench. We brought him back with our style of football to score goals, and he was very helpful helping us stay in the league.
“We decided to try and bring him back and now we have two choices… Do we give him just one or two chances, or do you find a way, give him chances, better positions to find a way back to score.
“I’m convinced it will come, he will score one and then more and more goals. Ike knows this, the team knows this, I’m looking for the best setup to bring him back to goalscoring.”
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Ike Ugbo looks set to start vs Cardiff City
By the sounds of it, Rohl is not about to drop Ugbo any time soon. Indeed, the Sheffield Wednesday boss appears defiant in his belief that consistently giving the Canadian a starting spot will help solve the issue in the long-term.
Based on recent performances and goal returns, though, it would seem obvious that Michael Smith should come in for Ugbo.
| Statistic | Michael Smith (2024/25) | Ike Ugbo (2024/25) |
|---|---|---|
| Appearances | 17 | 17 |
| Minutes played | 635 | 787 |
| Goals | 3 | 1 |
| Shots on target % | 44.4 | 36.4 |
| Shot-creating actions per 90 | 3.25 | 1.53 |
The thing is, a goal must surely come at some point for Ugbo. And how many times have we seen strikers at every level go on an incredible run of goalscoring form once they break that negative pattern of misses?
If Rohl’s plan to get Ugbo back on track does work — and let’s be honest, he cost £3m, so it has to work — the striker could end up being absolutely crucial to the Owls’ hopes of climbing the table and building on what they achieved last season.
However, if it all backfires and Ugbo struggles on for weeks or even months, big questions will be asked about Rohl’s judgement, and Wednesday may well find themselves in another fight for survival.