Henrik Pedersen pinpoints Hillsborough Stadium issue that affected Sheffield Wednesday squad

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen noticed an issue at Hillsborough Stadium that affected his players in the defeat to Stoke City.

Sheffield Wednesday suffered a second defeat of the Championship season as the Owls fell to a rampant Stoke City side 3-0.

The Owls got off to a difficult start in the contest, with the Potters opening the scoring in the first minute of the tie, and Sheffield Wednesday struggled to get a grasp of the game from that moment onwards.

The game itself was overshadowed by the pre-match protests that took place at Hillsborough Park as a herd of Sheffield Wednesday fans carried a coffin to the stadium, symbolising the damage done by Dejphon Chansiri.

Many issues have loomed over Sheffield Wednesday this summer, with one major concern being the state of Hillsborough Stadium, particularly the North Stand.

Thankfully, the North Stand was opened in time for the first home game against Stoke City, but Owls boss Henrik Pedersen noticed an alternative issue at the stadium: the pitch itself.

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen makes ‘difficult’ claim on Hillsborough turf

Following Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Stoke City, Henrik Pedersen reflected positively on his side and the brief successful spells they had, but hinted that they were hindered by the state of the pitch.

Via The Star, Pedersen said: “We had good moments on the ball with some structure and we could have played a bit more, but for the players it was tough to play because the pitch was very, very dry. 

“It was more difficult than it maybe looked like from the outside.”

Pedersen continued to suggest that a number of his players felt an impact as a result of the pitch conditions, but did not know the reasons why it was dry.

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Owls will be looking to turn around difficult start next weekend

The start of the season has shown Sheffield Wednesday to offer spirited performances considering the circumstances the players find themselves in, but they still find themselves second bottom of the Championship, with noisy neighbours Sheffield United below them.

This difficult start also comes down to the difficulty of the fixtures handed to Sheffield Wednesday, having travelled to recently relegated Premier League side in Leicester City before facing a much-improved Stoke City side at Hillsborough.

All attention will soon turn to the upcoming weekend as Sheffield Wednesday travel to Wrexham, who also find themselves on zero points at this early stage of the campaign.

Wrexham will be feeling the pressure with it being the first time in Phil Parkinson’s tenure at the club that they have faced such difficulty, and Henrik Pedersen’s side could revel in that.