Irvine: Owls Will Improve With Time

Wednesday boss Alan Irvine was left pleased with the 2-0 opening day victory against Dagenham & Redbridge yesterday – but insists there’s still room for improvement in his new-look side.

Goals from Giles Coke, via a Scott Doe deflection, and Clinton Morrison – both summer signings – were enough to give Wednesday a welcome three points at Hillsborough against the Daggers.

And although the Owls boss was pleased with the majority of the first half, he insists a poor second-half showing will only improve as his new-look side starts to gel.

‘I thought we were excellent for the first 30 minutes but after that, we were a bit careless and that was down to a lack of concentration,’ he told the official SWFC website.

‘But we have a lot of new players and it’s not just like switching on a light switch, they can take a few weeks to gel.

‘I was talking to Mick McCarthy of Wolves recently, he brought in plenty of new players at the same time last year and he said it can take time.

‘But listen, I am delighted with the result, delighted with the points and delighted to get the goals.’

Irvine threw five summer arrivals into his starting eleven yesterday in Clinton Morrison, Giles Coke, Gary Teale, Chris Sedgwick and Nicky Weaver, while Neil Mellor and Daniel Jones featured from the bench.

Two of those, Coke and Morrison, had only featured in one of the pre-season friendly matches.

Irvine could well use Tuesday night’s League Cup clash against Bury at home to further gel his new-look side, and give some of his other summer recruits, such as Paul Heffernan, Daniel Jones and Jon Otsemobor, the chance to shine.