Sheffield Wednesday beat Port Vale 3-0 at Hillsborough on Sunday to bring to and end their pre-season schedule which appears to have gone just about to plan as the squad prepare to reach their peak for the first game of the new Championship season this weekend.
Wednesday kick-off against Aston Villa at Hillsborough on Sunday and the squad appears to be in good shape following a summer that has taken in some local fixtures, a training camp with 2 games in Portugal and home games against Benfica and Port Vale.
Most of the squad have come through the summer schedule unscathed but with centre-back Glenn Loovens sidelined for around a couple of months and fellow defender Sam Hutchinson having also picked up a knock there is a shortage of options at centre-half with Vincent Sasso having departed after a season-long loan.
Owls manager Carlos Carvalhal has expressed a desire to bring in more players before the transfer window closes at the end of the month and a central defender surely has to be at the top of his wish list to bring in sooner rather than later with defensive midfielder Jose Semedo having had to fill in at the back in recent friendlies.
Left-back is also a position that Carvalhal could be looking at as although Daniel Pudil has now signed on a permanent contract following his successful loan spell last season there is not much in the way of experienced cover or alternative in that position.
The Owls have a tough start to the season with Norwich and local rivals Leeds also on the fixture list before the transfer window closes and so they could well be looking to get players in before the deadline day scramble.
Wednesday had to do a lot of rebuilding to their squad last summer and got off to a fairly slow start as late additions to the squad were made and the manager adapted to his first season in English football and they will be keen to avoid any sort of repeat this time around.