Danny Röhl Predicts Hard Time With Summer Departure Ahead Of Oxford Trip

A trip to Oxford United on Saturday looks likely to reunite Sheffield Wednesday with a familiar face – and their reigning player of the year.

Will Vaulks left Wednesday in the summer after two seasons in which he played a major role in their League One promotion season and then their Championship survival effort last time out. A popular figure with Owls supporters, the battling central midfielder was voted the club’s player of the year for his efforts.

He’s now an Oxford United player and could well line up against a number of his old teammates at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday as Wednesday look to continue their rich vein of form on the road. Vaulks has proven an important player for the Us since his signing, featuring in every league match up until last night’s defeat to QPR.

The Wales international sat out the game, replaced in the line-up by Idris El Mizouni, following an arduous run of one win in 13 league matches extended to 14 after defeat to the resurgent Rangers saw them dip to 20th in the table. In a whirlwind fixture run, it could well be that Vaulks returns to the starting set-up for the visit of Wednesday.

In a parting shot interview Vaulks touched on the reasons for his moving on to Oxford despite talks over a potential extension of his time at S6. It’s understood he signed a three-year deal with his new club. “I’ll miss it,” he said. “We loved it there. Look, it’s public (knowledge) that I wanted to stay at the club if things were right. But things weren’t right for whatever reason. We loved it as a family, we were settled here… I’ll move on with my head held high that I tried everything for the football club and maybe it just wasn’t there from the other side. That’s football for you.”

Should Vaulks play a part for Oxford, one man who expects ‘fire’ from his performance is Owls boss Danny Röhl.

“I wrote Will a personal message and said a big, big thankyou,” Röhl told The Star back in July following confirmation of Vaulks’ exit. “I think he improved a lot in the last weeks and months. He was helpful. I have never seen a player with no contract into the summer have so much energy until the end. This was great to see from him.

“But then we spoke honestly and he decided to move to Oxford. This is normal in football. We will see him soon when we play against each other. We will have a battle, Will will be on fire, we will be on fire, both parts will show how strong we are. This is football, we move on. What is important is that we can look each other in the eyes, we are honest and this is what I try to give my players, honest feedback on where they are.”