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Sheffield Wednesday man opens up on honest conversations that led to promotion
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Will Vaulks says honest talks among the players played its part in the club’s thrilling promotion last season. The Owls racked up a club record tally of 96 points during the regular campaign but it wasn’t enough to secure one of the two automatic promotion spots in League One.
It meant Darren Moore’s side had to negotiate the play-offs and they certainly provided plenty of entertainment on their way to victory, pulling off a miraculous comeback in the semi-finals against Peterborough before a dramatic late win over Barnsley in the Wembley final.
Wales international Vaulks says that discussions between the players and coaching staff provided pivotal, especially when it became apparent that they would be missing out on going up automatically.
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“Within the camp we had some big chats,” Vaulks told the Star. “For a lot of the season we expected to be promoted with the side we had and the points we were at and we tried so hard just to remain focused and we did.
“But those little games that cost us, we had to bounce back from those and we had a lot of internal conversations. After the Shrewsbury game (away), that was a big turning point: the realisation that it was one option and that was the play-offs. We had to go and do it after the season we’d had and we did.
“The credit has to go to the manager, the senior players in the team for changing the mindset and managing to turn what was a really negative situation into a positive.”
Vaulks and his teammates are enjoying a well-earned rest but will report back to Middlewood for pre-season later this month as they prepare for life back in the Championship. The Owls have announced a handful of friendlies so far and are shortly expected to confirm more details regarding their warm-up schedule including a likely training camp abroad in July.
