'Not normal to come back' - Rohl on Wednesday draw
Sheffield Wednesday's recovery from three goals down to secure a draw at Middlesbrough was "not normal", according to boss Danny Rohl.
Wednesday scored three times in 14 minutes after the break to draw 3-3 at the Riverside Stadium and remain ninth in the table.
Goals from Svante Ingelsson, Josh Windass and a first in more than five years for Yan Valery left Rohl delighted as Wednesday made it 14 points from their past seven games.
"Outstanding," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"How we came back was so strong. The mentality, the belief was there, the trust.
"We made some points at half-time, we changed the shape to 4-1-4-1, it was very helpful, we controlled the midfield more, the players who came on helped us.
"But we should also recognise the first half. In the end, we are happy to come back. It's not normal against a strong Middlesbrough, who play a fast, attacking style."
Why Arsenal’s Brentford clash is on Wednesday
Almost every team in the Premier League will play a fixture on December 29th and 30th, with two exceptions – Brentford and Arsenal.
Six games are taking place on Sunday, December 29th, including league-leaders Liverpool travelling away to West Ham United. A further three matches will then take place on Monday, including Chelsea’s trip away to Ipswich Town and Manchester United taking on Newcastle United.
But Arsenal’s visit to Brentford is scheduled for Wednesday, with a one-day break in games in between.
Though New Year’s Eve seems like the obvious explanation, the festivities haven’t stopped Arsenal from playing matches in the past. The Gunners travelled away to Fulham on December 31st, 2023, and they faced Brighton on December 31st, 2022.
The difference this season is that it seems the Premier League has decided to avoid scheduling any games on December 28th and 31st, as well as on January 2nd and 3rd.
Before the campaign began, the league had also committed to avoiding any one club playing two matches within 60 hours between December 21st and January 5th.
With Arsenal playing on Friday (Dec 27th), a Sunday (Dec 29th) game was out of the question, as that would have meant two games in 60 hours. A game on Thursday (Jan 2nd) was out for the same reason, as Arsenal play Brighton on Saturday (Jan 4th).
The Gunners could have played on Monday (Dec 30th), like Friday’s opponent’s Ipswich are. The reason they aren’t is much more predictable: TV greed.
The TV broadcasters want to air Manchester United’s game against Newcastle United on Monday night, but they also want to air the Arsenal game.
With no other TV slots on Monday, the game had to shift to the next available day. Given December 31st was seemingly off the table this time, that was Wednesday.
