Pressman backs foreigners

Kevin Pressman, the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper, believes his club's foreign legion can shoot the Owls into Europe if they can continue to come to terms with the harsh demands of the Premiership.

The Dutch duo of Regi Blinker and Orlando Trustfull and the Italian Benito Carbone showed that they have the heart to go with their blend of silky Continental skills on Monday night as David Pleat's side ended a run of 10 League and cup games without a win with a 2-0 victory over bottom of the table Nottingham Forest.

Trustfull and Carbone both bagged their first goals for the Hillsborough club, but it was the quality of their performance as much as their finishing power that impressed in South Yorkshire conditions that were more akin to the Arctic than an English autumn.

Pressman insists that Wednesday now have to start setting their sights high since they are back up to ninth place in the table.

"Regi came in and did well last year while Orlando and Benny have come in this season and all three have settled in very quickly," said Pressman, who saw his opposite number Mark Crossley produce a man-of-the-match performance at the other end to keep Forest in a contest in which they were second best throughout.

"Benny is the latest one to arrive and he's doing extremely well. He's settled down very quickly, trying hard to learn English, and has showed that he is a top-class performer.

"It's now just a question of getting that consistency and making sure that we grind out the results when we aren't playing so well."

Trustfull, a pounds 750,000 signing from Feyenoord early in the season, and Carbone, a club record pounds 3m buy from Internazionale last month, finally found the finishing touch that had been lacking in previous outings and which looked beyond Wednesday for 63 minutes last night.

The Owls had drawn their last three matches, including home encounters with Blackburn and Southampton which they had also dominated.

Pressman said: "We can start looking to build and a European place is something we've got to aim for because it's so tight at the moment."

For the Forest goalkeeper Crossley, born just a few miles away in neighbouring Barnsley, it was a champagne performance that he could have done without.

"We've just got to keep battling away and, if and when we get that win, it will hopefully prove to be a turning point." he said.

Frank Clark's side have now gone 12 Premiership matches without a win since their opening-day success at Coventry and have netted just 10 League goals.

Crossley admits that they are going though a crisis of confidence, adding: "It's all about getting that win to restore our belief."