With Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship status confirmed again next season, Chairman Dejphon Chansiri and manager Carlos Carvalhal will be preparing heavily for the 2017-18 campaign in order to give The Owls an edge over their promotion rivals.

Having improved on their final league table standings since promotion from League One year-on-year, Sheffield Wednesday continue to edge closer to the top and now carry two years worth of momentum.

Failure in the Championship play-offs on two occasions in successive years, automatic promotion must now be Wednesday’s main objective.

Standing any chance of taking the giant leap into the Premier League has proven too risky via the lottery of the play-offs. All focus must now be on a top two finish.

With this in mind, Shoot!‘s Louis Shackshaft has listed Sheffield Wednesday’s top 5 fans summer expectations that will help guide the Blue and White wizards to an automatic promotion push…

1. Clear Out

Since the arrival of Chairman Dejphon Chansiri two years ago, Sheffield Wednesday have seen many players either arrive on loan or on permanent deals as the club strives to improve on the field of play.

However, the amount of players exiting the Hillsborough door has been few and far between. A handful of players simply have not got what it takes in terms of ability to find themselves in the matchday squad.

Lewis McGugan, Filipe Melo, Darryl Lachman and Claude Dielna, Moudou Sougou and Urby Emmanuelson have all fallen in the subject to requirements under Carlos Carvalhal for many different reasons.

Also taking into consideration what their wages equate to, a clear out will be deemed necessary to make way for additional players to arrive.

2. Extend Contracts

At most clubs across the nation, many players find themselves out-of-contract over the summer and can potentially become free agents.

Sheffield Wednesday have eight in total. The backroom staff will certainly be doing their utmost to keep hold of the players who have something to offer in terms of experience or potential.

Young shot stopper Joe Wildsmith will most likely sign an extended contract, the likes of Cameron Dawson, Jose Semedo and Vincent Sasso may or may not see revised offers, where as Darryl Lachman, Claude Dielna, Urby Emmnauelson and Moudou Sougou are all expected to be shown the door.

3. Transfer Market

Sheffield Wednesday have already made their biggest ever transfer scoop in Jordan Rhodes, he will officially sign over the summer for a reported fee of £10m.

With this in mind, Dejphon Chansiri will have to make very shrewd decisions in the transfer market in regards to financial fair play.

The Owls will most likely express an interest in a new centre-back, central midfielder and/or wingers.

In addition, Will Buckley and Callum McManaman will return to their parent clubs shortly having been on loan since January, making way for new recruits.

4. Pre-season friendlies

A pre-season trip to Portugal has been on the agenda over the course of the last two seasons, most likely due to Carlos Carvalhal’s links with the clubs in his country of birth.

Friendlies, home and away, are expected to be announced in due course.

This will certainly give the Wednesday faithful something to get their teeth into as the summer months can be a long drawn out process for any football fan.

Once again, the expectations will rise and lasts seasons play-off semi-final defeat can be forgotten.

5. Preparation and Momentum

Although pre-season friendlies can give any fan a taste of what’s to come in the upcoming campaign, mental and physical preparation is key to any success.

Comprehensive and demanding training will play a pivotal part in the outcome of next year’s final league standings.

Furthermore, injuries always take their toll throughout the course of any season and the management staff will be doing their utmost to keep any injuries minimal.

Players such as Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall, who have only been at the club five months will continue to bed in.

Wednesday will be hopeful of gaining some momentum from start to finish in the league next season and follow on from their great run of form throughout April and May.

Momentum will be indispensable towards any automatic promotion push.