Jack Hunt makes Sheffield Wednesday top-six admission | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday wing-back Jack Hunt admits it would be a massive underachievement if his side were to finish outside of the top six this season, making this admission to Yorkshire Live.

The Owls currently sit in sixth place after 39 league matches, two points clear of Sunderland in seventh who will also be desperate to secure a place in the play-offs at the end of the campaign after recruiting Alex Neil.

Despite intense pressure from the likes of the Black Cats and Wycombe Wanderers, Wednesday will also be expected to be in the promotion mix when May comes around after enjoying a productive summer transfer window last year, a period that set them up for success during 2021/22.

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Nonetheless, their progress has been hampered by 12 draws this season, failing to push higher in the table because of these dropped points with four consecutive ties against AFC Wimbledon, Cambridge United, Lincoln City and Cheltenham Town back in October proving to be a particular source of frustration.

Despite this, they have enjoyed high points as well with their 6-0 victory over Cambridge earlier this month providing the Hillsborough crowd with an eventful afternoon, displaying their goalscoring pedigree against Mark Bonner’s side that afternoon.

But this highlight and their other good moments will be for nothing if they don’t retain their current position – and Hunt has admitted that a finish below where they are right now would be a major disappointment.

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, he said: “We don’t want to think too far ahead but it would be a massive, massive underachievement if we don’t [finish in the play-offs].

“We do the cliches and we take it game by game, so we cannot really come away from that.

“It is tight, and no one is going to win every game until the end of the season, as long as we can get enough wins to get us into the play-offs, that is all we care about at the moment and when we are in there then we can hopefully do the business and we believe we can.”

The Verdict:

This season has been disappointing for many sides who were expected to be in the top six, not least the likes of Sunderland and Ipswich Town with the latter rebuilding their squad in the summer to try and secure promotion.

With the amount of Championship-quality players they have in their side, the Tractor Boys arguably should have done a lot better despite the scale of their rebuild and at this stage, a potential promotion push looks as though it will need to wait until next term.

One factor that has made Wednesday’s task harder is the fact the likes of Plymouth Argyle and MK Dons weren’t expected to be in the top six with former managers Ryan Lowe and Russell Martin leaving for the second tier.

Oxford have arguably done well to be in the play-offs as well considering other sides’ investment in last summer’s window so it looks set to be a bitter battle for a place in the promotion mix between now and May.

This is why it wouldn’t be a major surprise if the Owls were to drop out of the play-off zone – though that could result in Darren Moore’s sacking.