Owls centre-half Rob Jones spoke to his club's official website ahead of Wednesday's League One match against Carlisle at Hillsborough tomorrow, Jones hoping they can beat Steel City rivals United to second place by the end of the season :
"The gap is four points with three games to go but you never know what is going to happen. We have to go again and we will, there is still a way to go and we don’t need lifting; we are in form. We are still after second place and know what we’ve got to do. It’s not so long ago people were thinking we were out of it but we’re not - we’re still in there with a chance.
"There's nothing more we can do than win our next three games. Yes, we were disappointed with the draw at Colchester because I thought the lads did enough to win the game. Sheffield United now have a little bit of a cushion but it's important for us to go into the three final games and keep the pressure on. It's now the two Sheffield clubs fighting it out for one place, whatever happens, there is massive amount left to play for and while we can still mathematically get second, we will continue to keep our focus on that aim.
"We are not thinking about the play-offs yet. Until there is no chance of second, we will continue to fight for it. I think we have got the most difficult run-in to be honest. Carlisle beat us 3-2 earlier in the season and Brentford is a difficult place to go to. Both teams are fighting to get into the play-offs so they have got an awful lot to play for, as have we."
Meanwhile Owls goalkeeper Stephen Bywater commented to his club's official website :
"I'm not thinking about the play-offs yet, I'm just thinking that we need to win our last three games. Hopefully other teams might slip up, but our focus is that we can still possibly get second spot and we know anything can happen. I'm not a quitter in life and I know the lads I work with aren't quitters, so we're all still striving to get that number two slot. Now is a time to keep knuckling down and go for three wins out of three because we know that's what's needed."
In team news for the Owls tomorrow they will have three players missing through injury, the sidelined defensive trio being Julian Bennett, Reda Johnson and Jon Otsemobor. Left-back Bennett and centre-half Johnson having been absent in the last week or two with respective hamstring and thigh problems, while right-back Otsemobor is still a long way from match action after undergoing a knee operation in mid-March.
Owls boss Dave Jones is able though to call on another trio of players who had been unavailable, but are now set for a return to action. Striker Ryan Lowe having returned to training following a minor groin problem, while Burnley-loanee winger Keith Treacy only missed Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Colchester last Saturday through illness. Finally meanwhile left-back Daniel Jones is back around the Owls first-team squad after being sidelined since January with a calf injury.
The referee for tomorrow afternoon's match is Simon Hooper from Swindon and he will be assisted down the lines by Keith Lawson from Grimsby and Rob Whitton from Braintree in Essex. Meanwhile the fourth official is Andrew Hutchinson from Great Sutton in Cheshire.