Sheffield Wednesday keen to learn lessons from Sunderland's flexible League One strategy

There has been a gradual shift in Sheffield Wednesday's approach under Darren Moore. The green shoots of recovery were there for all to see last season as the Owls finished fourth in League One after amassing an impressive 85 points.

Has it always been a smooth ride? Not, there have been some bumps in the road a long the way.

But Moore said it would take time for him to implement his ideas and instil an identity in the team. "I think it is clear with my DNA and philosophy in terms of it (style of play) - I want to play on the front foot and try and play attacking football," said Moore in an interview with the local media last October.

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"I have always maintained that since I started my managerial career. It is something I believe in and it is something I adhere to. It is something I love in terms of going out and playing football."

Things steadily improved after Moore ditched his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation in favour of 3-5-2. Injuries at the back contributed to the system tweak. Moore tailored their tactics to the resources at his disposal.

There were several times last year where Moore spoke about adopting different formations for different matches. He said Wednesday would sometimes tweak their system depending on the opposition.

But that did not really materialise, did it? It was very rare the Owls went away from the 3-5-2 set-up.

Wednesdayites will remember the team briefly played with four at the back in the second half of the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Sunderland. The experiment did not go well. It is no exaggeration to say the Black Cats could have scored two to three goals during that period. The