Garry Monk doubts his Sheffield Wednesday side can catch West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United at the top of the Championship.
Wednesday moved to third following Sunday’s 1-0 win against Bristol City and are now within eight points of Leeds, who lost at Fulham the previous afternoon.
The Owls travel to Elland Road in early January, where the Whites are unlikely to have their midfield talisman, Pablo Hernandez, available.
Leeds won just two of the six league games Hernandez missed earlier in the campaign.
Hernandez leaves the field injured. (Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
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But Monk, who took the Spaniard to Leeds in 2016, is trying not to look any further ahead than Wednesday’s Boxing Day trip to Stoke.
Asked if a top-two finish is possible for the Owls, the manager told the club’s official Facebook page: “No, look, in terms of squad dynamic, I think they (West Brom and Leeds) are ahead of anyone else in this league. I think that’s the reason why they are where they are.
“I think it’s for those two teams to lose their positions. I don’t see that happening. We know in this league, anything can happen, but we’re not really focused on them if I’m honest with you.
“As I said, it is the truth, we’re focused on ourselves, game by game, give the maximum for that game and then we’ll worry about everything else afterwards. I think that’s the best way to treat it, otherwise you can get carried away, if you’re going into games thinking, ‘this could mean this’, or, ‘this could mean that’. That’s not the point.
“The point is what need to do to win that game or give ourselves the best chance to win that game and I think that’s a good method to use; tried and tested. And that’s what we’ll be approaching each and every game like.”
Wednesday are a point and three places better off than their city rivals Sheffield United were this time last year.
But the Blades went on to finish second, securing promotion to the Premier League at Leeds’ expense.
