"We have to win" Sheffield Wednesday man back at ideal time with key figure guaranteed to sit out

The Owls have switched to a fluid back three system in recent outings, with Bernard operating on the left of the backline to some acclaim. His red card for two bookable offences in their 2-1 win over Bristol City over the weekend, however, will see him miss Saturday's short trip to Rotherham United.

The Robins win was the first of three clashes that manager Danny Röhl admitted 'everybody knows' are vitally important to Wednesday's Championship survival bid. Bernard will be back for Tuesday evening's visit of Plymouth Argyle but leaves a whole to be filled at the New York Stadium.

One man who could be thrown back into contention is Akin Famewo, who has played much of his football at Wednesday in the left centre-half position. The 25-year-old has been sidelined since he went off late on in their win over Birmingham City on January 9, though Röhl revealed he hopes the former Norwich City man is expected back this week.

Detailing the renewed strength in depth in defence he feels is able to cover Bernard's sit-out, Röhl told The Star: "Akin is back next week, Bambo is back, Iorfa is back. This is good to have created these opportunities. The other guys are working hard in the background to come back as soon as possible. This is the group and how we work beside the pitch. Our attitude is fantastic and hard working.

"Dish has done well. His improvement is big. Look, we can speak about every player and how they have grown up. For every player it has been up and down, Liam has been out of the group and now in the group, Will is back getting stronger and stronger. Barry, everybody is strong."

Confidence is growing that with the deficit cut to three points from a high of 12 at one stage, Wednesday will be able to climb out of the bottom three for the first time since the embryonic stages of the season in the coming weeks. There's an ever-growing bunch of teams sat above the relegation zone. Röhl has encouraged his side to think of themselves as 'hunters' heading into the final weeks of the campaign.

"Our self-confidence and our convictions are up," he said. "If you take the results from the last four games, we took three massive wins. We are always now in a situation where we have to win - not that maybe we can win - we have to win. This is the situation at the moment, we come closer and we are still alive. We have 12 finals to play. I was in some finals in my career before; you have to win finals."