The Head Coach spoke with the press ahead of Tuesday night's home clash with Preston North End, calling for a 'ruthless' edge from his players, to build on the momentum of recent results.
As the games continue to arrive thick and fast, and coming straight out of a gruelling South Yorkshire derby, Valérien Ismaël admits the task at Sheffield Wednesday was a tough one.
He also saw one of his players fall victim to injury that will see him miss the remainder of 2020.
“It was a tough game, for sure.” The gaffer stated.
“It was a good feeling though, a good result for the club, the staff and the fans. But we picked up a bad injury to Aapo Halme and he’ll be out for probably four weeks. It's a toe injury. That’s a big blow for us and for him.
“Jordan Williams isn’t ready yet, not 100%, but he’s back in training this week.
“But it’s an issue we will have to deal with when we face Preston on Tuesday night, a change to the backline.”
Despite that setback, the Frenchman was proud to see his players perform with real intensity, a real spirit at Hillsborough.
Seven wins from his 11 games in charge has the Reds second only to league leaders, Norwich City in the form table.
“It’s not easy to come back in a game, especially going behind so early like we did on Saturday. But there was a great mentality, there was no doubt in my players’ minds that they’d win that game.
“The Birmingham win was a big turning point for us in that regard.
“It is more than a good start now, isn’t it? We’ve had many victories. But we need more wins, more points. It’s about having a safe season quickly. Taking each game one by one.”
Tuesday night sees Preston pitch up at Oakwell, a year after completing an easy double over the Reds.
The Head Coach is aware of those results and expects a big commitment from his side in order to better perform this time around against the Lilywhites.
Valérien told us: “Last season our results and performances against Preston were not good enough. It’s time to change more history. We need that ruthless nature again.
“Against Bournemouth we struggled with fatigue. We need to learn from that.
“When we get chances on Tuesday night, we need to be clinical and punish the opponent.
“Preston will be difficult, we expect a strong side but we have prepared well and we have good momentum that we wish to continue, to keep up our good work.”
