Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen offers his thoughts on the 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough
Henrik Pedersen believes that Sheffield Wednesday should have had a penalty in the 1-0 defeat against Middlesbrough.
Boro ended a seven-match winless run on Wednesday evening thanks to Morgan Whittaker’s 12th goal of the season just 11 minutes into his return to the team after injury.
Kim Hellberg admitted it was by no means a pretty performance, but after a winless run in which holding on to leads late in games has been a problem, it felt like an important hurdle to pass.
But it could have easily been a familiar story for Boro when Aidan Morris handled the ball in the penalty area late on. After giving the ball away to allow Jamal Lowe to break, the USA international chased and managed to get himself in between Lowe and the ball before falling under the pressure of the Owls striker and handling the ball on his way down.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! Keep up with all the Middlesbrough FC latest via the Gazette's dedicated Facebook page
Referee David Webb handed Boro a free-kick, but it’s fair to say there was an anxious intake of breath around the Riverside as the whistle went, with concern a penalty was about to be awarded against them.
Asked about the incident after, Pedersen had his tongue firmly in cheek as he said: “I’ve not seen the situation again. But from where I stood, it looked like he was a very good friend with the ball! But I have not seen the situation again.”
Despite the penalty incident which didn’t go their way, Pedersen was left proud of how his side performed against a Boro side he rates as one of the best in the Championship.
“A strong, strong performance against a really, really good team,” he assessed. “I think we start the game really, really well with a big belief, with big confidence. I think we are well organised, but especially on the ball we were strong until Gaby [Otegbayo] made a little mistake on the ball.
“Then, after the goal, we had a difficult period where they had the ball more than us but by the end of the first half, I think we came back well again. Then in the second half, they also started to have the ball a little bit but we were very equal.
“From 60 minutes and the rest of the game, I think we were stronger team than them and big, big respect for how we attack them in this period, how we change the formation so we could be more aggressive and how much intensity we play the last 30 minutes.
“They are so strong on the ball and you have to invest everything, otherwise you have no chance to press them. And how the boys did that, to be so extreme in the last 30 minutes and win a lot of balls, but also with which confidence we showed on the ball. It's a step forward but still a disappointment that we don't get a point today.”
Boro’s winning goal ultimately came from an error as Gabrial Otegbayo attempted a blind backpass, failing to spot Whittaker lurking to nip in ahead of the goalkeeper and put Boro ahead.
Admitted it was a risk of how he wanted his side to approach the game, the Owls boss added: “We have to remember we play against a top team today. So every action we have in this game, we have to be on a maximum level, otherwise we have no chance to compete.
“Every time we have a pressing situation, we need 11 players who need the same thought to be a swarm, to be together, to press this good team. Every time we’re on the ball, we need to be on the limit because otherwise we have no chance to break the first pressing from them.
They are so aggressive, the sixes in the middle. It's an extreme situation, all the situations, this out of our comfort zone in every action because otherwise we cannot compete. So of course there'll come some mistake, but this not the question.
“The question is how do they react from them? And here Gaby reacted fantastic. The whole team reacted to him. We want to play with courage, we want to play with belief and yes, it was a little bit too much, but it's a strong team.”
