The Dutchman was appointed Sheffield Wednesday’s new manager five weeks ago on Monday.
Jos Luhukay has admitted that managing Sheffield Wednesday is proving tougher than expected.
Five weeks after taking charge at Hillsborough, Luhukay’s only wins remain in the FA Cup, with Wednesday dropping to within six points of the Championship’s bottom three.
An unprecedented injury crisis has not helped the Dutchman’s cause, and speaking at a press conference on Monday, he told the Owls’ official Facebook page that an intense schedule is not helping matters.
Luhukay said: “Yes, of course [it has been tougher than expected]. [Whenever I come to choose my team,] my team is very small. Every time I have only 12/13 players and the rest are from the under-23s.
“They have not played a lot of games in the last six months and we have now a very intensive programme. We play five games in two weeks so it’s not so easy for players to be 100 per cent.
“We have a lot of games very fast behind [each game], so it is every time a new preparation but every time also to see, is every player 100 per cent to [play] in two or three days the next game?
“When you have rhythm and a very good physical situation it’s not such a problem. The players now have had no rhyhtm for many games so it comes very hard for them.”
Luhukay is also having to contend with another unpredictable foe: South Yorkshire’s wintry weather.
He added: “I’m now five weeks here and we have had seven times [where we can] not train on the field. Yesterday we couldn’t train on the field as the rain was too hard in the night – too much water.
“And tomorrow there is snow on the field so there is not always the 100 per cent situation but it is what it is and we try to be positive about that.”
Having progressed to the FA Cup fifth round, Luhukay’s Sheffield Wednesday face another four games in 12 days, a run which includes consecutive Tuesday night fixtures – starting against Derby County tomorrow.
The Owls have Glenn Loovens and Daniel Pudil back for the Rams’ visit, although it will likely come too soon for Tom Lees.
Lees, who has not played for Wednesday’s first team since late November, played and scored in the Under-23s’ 3-2 defeat against Huddersfield Town on Monday afternoon.
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