Bambo Diaby has a message for those that think Sheffield Wednesday are already relegated

The Owls defender has been a mainstay of the Wednesday backline under both Xisco and Danny Röhl since joining the club in the summer, playing every minute of the German's start to life at S6.

Performances have picked up in recent weeks but hopes will hang on the international break being a turning point in the side's results. A trip to winless-in-five Birmingham City this weekend presents a chance to get themselves going heading into a fierce December fixture schedule.

Wednesday sit nine points adrift of the safety spots, a deficit the side can make up with a good run of form and plenty of time left to run in the season, Diaby believes. Rumours of the Owls' demise, he said, are premature.

"It's obvious why that is the expectation," he said. "People just look at the table. The season is not done. We are not down. The people are thinking my team is dead. My team is not dead. We are here, we are fighting and this is only the beginning. We start to grow and I trust in my team.

"To be honest it has been a difficult start, that's no secret. We are working to make sure our game changes. I am an optimist and we are growing, step-by-step we will show that on the pitch.

"If my life has shown me something it is to never give up, it doesn't matter about the situation. I just keep working and I want to show it's on me, it's on our team. We know it's difficult, everybody knows that, but we can do it. Mathematically, we are not down. Everything is possible.

"Nobody has their head down. We are being positive, looking forward to the next game and what we can change, what we can learn from the last game to take into the next one. This is what we are doing now."

After what were seen as some early wobbles in his Wednesday career, Diaby has recovered his form under Röhl. It is a never-say-die spirit that will be important to the Senegal-born man mountain going forward.

"Every game I do my best," he said. "I don't go into any training, any game thinking about what has happened. In my mind it is always to do my best and give all that I have. Sometimes you can make mistakes in football, in everything, but I do my best in every game and every training. I am looking forward, I trust my team and trust myself also."