What Danny Rohl has planned for the Sheffield Wednesday squad during November international break

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The international break is here, and while fans lament the pause in the domestic fixture list, Danny Rohl and his Sheffield Wednesday players are going to make the most of this time in the wake of the Steel City derby defeat.

Sheffield Wednesday go into the international break on the back of a disappointing yet spirited 1-0 defeat to their local rivals, Sheffield United, on Sunday afternoon.

The Owls now have just under a fortnight to recover, regroup, and prepare for the brutal festive schedule, and Danny Rohl undoubtedly has a lot he wants to discuss and work on with his Sheffield Wednesday squad.

But, Rohl clearly understands this break is about more than just running his players into the ground, and has shared his plan for the next couple of weeks in the buildup to the Cardiff City game on November 23.

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Danny Rohl wants rest and recovery period

Speaking to The Star, Rohl discussed his plans for the international break, both on a personal level and what he intends to get the team doing on the training ground.

“It’s always about reflection from the last weeks but also I must use this time for myself, to calm a little bit down and have some time with my family,” Rohl said. “This is in the schedule, I spoke to the players and we have some that need a rest to recover.”

This goes hand in hand with Josh Windass’ message to his teammates, with the attacker telling his colleagues to ignore the outside noise in the fallout from the derby and focus on the work Rohl and the squad will carry out behind the scenes.

However, that idea of rest is not the case for every member of the squad, with Rohl adding: “Some players need minutes and training and we will find the right balance for the group. We will be ready then for the long term; from November to March there is no break and we will use this break in different directions.”

It will be reassuring to Owls fans that Rohl has a good handle on the different needs of his players, with some having played a lot of football already this season, while the likes of Nathaniel Chalobah and Michael Ihiekwe are pushing for a return to first-team action and need all the work they can get.

While the schedules of some players will differ, the squad in general is expected to return to full training next week ahead of the game against Cardiff.

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Sheffield Wednesday have a nice run of games coming up

When the Championship fixtures return, Sheffield Wednesday have a fantastic opportunity to put together a meaningful run of results, with four matches coming up against teams around or below the Owls in the table right now.

Cardiff City are currently in the bottom three, and the Bluebirds travel to Hillsborough for the early kick-off in two weeks. After that, Hull City, who have the same amount of points as Cardiff, will be the next task for the Owls.

If Rohl can get two positive results there, Wednesday will go to Pride Park to take on a Derby side who are doing pretty well this season, but who have just one point more than Rohl’s men at this stage.

They then head into the more hectic December schedule with Preston visiting S6, and the Owls will be looking to take advantage of a team who have struggled to dominate possession so far this season.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Sheffield Wednesday can win all four of these matches, and if they do, that will put them in a really strong position by this time next month, and the derby defeat will be a distant memory for most.