What Liam Palmer has said about "difficult" Sheffield Wednesday summer following Leicester City defeat | OneFootball

Palmer has been a loyal servant to the Owls for many years now.

Liam Palmer has admitted that the chaos surrounding Sheffield Wednesday this summer has taken its toll on the players, but he insists that the ones who remain will fight tooth and nail for the badge.

The first match of the new season, what would usually be a highly anticipated one, came with a lot of anxiety for the supporters of the Owls. Many of them will have been, and still remain, worried about what could be to come over the course of the campaign.

A majority of the people who made the trip to the King Power Stadium on Sunday, who saw their side lose 2-1 to Leicester City, didn't head to their seats for the start of the match in protest of their owner, Dejphon Chansiri, whose financial mismanagement of the club has put Wednesday in a hugely compromised position.

The players have also felt the impact of the mess at Hillsborough. Many went weeks or months without proper payment, their pre-season preparations were hindered and the uncertainty around the future of former boss Danny Rohl didn't help things either.

Liam Palmer on Sheffield Wednesday's summer of struggles

Palmer, the longest-standing member of the first-team, spoke after the loss to Marti Cifuentes' Foxes about the challenges that the team have had to deal with already in this new season.

"It's been difficult. It's been difficult to come in every day and, like Henrik [Pedersen, the manager] said, give the best version of yourself," the 33-year-old told Football Heaven.

"Some days you feel it more than others. You feel for the ones working at the stadium. Security guards, people I've known for if not 15 [years]. They're people I knew when I was a kid and are working there now.

"They're proud to represent Sheffield Wednesday and work there. They could probably go and get a job somewhere else, but they love working for the club.

"When I go to the club shop and get the kits for my kids, like I do every year, everyone is a bit down. Hopefully the performances we can put in can go some way to kind of bring that feeling back and get the fans going.

"I'm just glad to be back playing, to be honest," he added. "A lot has obviously been circulating and surrounding us the whole summer. It hasn't been easy but, like I said, we're back playing now. The games are coming thick and fast.

"We'll go again on Wednesday [against Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup] and just quickly get back in that mode of playing games, for us players, the better. Hopefully, like I said, things can turn around for the better."

Asked whether he feels Wednesday can return to being at the level that it was once at, Palmer stated: "It's always difficult and there's not much clarity around things. Us as players have asked questions and not quite had the answers that we probably want or expect, and that's why you see people that have ended up leaving which is a shame."

Max Lowe, who started the game against Leicester on Sunday, is one of the players that is reported to have handed in their notice to the club.

"I've had a lot of friends that I've played with for five or six years. Pato [Callum Paterson] is a close friend. I was at Josh's [Windass] wedding. I roomed with Smudge [Michael Smith] at St George's and then three days later they've gone. So it does have a big impact on the squad.

"That's the nature of football, not quite to that extreme but people do come and go. The ones that are here now are here to work and roll their sleeves up. We're under no illusion as to how difficult it's going to be.

"We're representing the club and we'll do the best that we can whilst given that chance."

Sheffield Wednesday are heading down a slippery slope

The Championship never throws up a comfortable schedule for any team at the best of times.

With Wednesday already short-staffed, Barry Bannan suspended for one match after picking up a red card on Sunday, and goalscorer Nathaniel Chalobah's injury, it's going to be very difficult for Pedersen to put out a competitive team for every match.

Wednesday are no longer under any EFL embargoes, which will make adding to the squad much easier, but they still won't be allowed to spend any fees on transfers or loans until the summer of 2027. Like Palmer said, it's a really tough spot that they find themselves in.