Spiky, determined Xisco has faith in principles he believes Sheffield Wednesday will benefit from

He can be a spiky character, fiercely passionate about coaching and confident that despite a sluggish start that has seen them go three matches without a win a the outset of their return to the second tier.

As time stretched on on Saturday evening, via talk of rugby and medical studies and Mikel Arteta, the message was clear; the Spaniard is determined and has absolute faith that his methods will pay dividends for Wednesday in the long run. It struck that he wanted to be detailed and thorough in the delivery of his message.

Results are important, he said, of course they are. But the work needed to drag his Wednesday squad towards the principles he has promised would continue regardless at this early stage of his management. It’s a brave switch of tact he has ultimate faith in, that has seen previously integral players pushed down the pecking order.

He can’t be accused of shying away from big calls.

“We’ve changed, of course,” he said. “You know at which point we started. I’m not thinking that if we win we’re closer - no, we continue the same and we need to work very, very hard to change the situation. We need to go to Cardiff and continue improving.

“If I’ve learnt anything about the Championship we’re not thinking about the short-term. You need to think long-term and create different situations.

“I know in this moment nobody understands. It’s normal. Nobody wants to lose. But right now at which point we are and how every day they are working to try to change the situation.”

Citing the most obvious recent example of a manager who faced criticism in the early weeks of a role before turning things around, Xisco turned to his compatriot Mikel Arteta, almost forced out at Arsenal before an upturn in fortunes saw them push Manchester City in the Premier League title stakes last season.

The circumstances don’t quite compute - Arteta was looking to strike an attacking tune out of some of the best and most expensively assembled players in the country - but there are similarities to be clutched at in his mission to reinvent the club’s playing style.

Arteta led Arsenal to two eighth-place finishes in his first two seasons while the club stood by him. It’s early days, too early to make any sweeping judgements, but undershooting Wednesday’s mission in a quest for playing style panache this season would be a little more catastrophic.

“When you lose, nobody defends you, for sure,” he said, perhaps attempting to build a ‘backs against the wall’ mentality, keen to stress the advances he believes his side have made in a short time since his arrival to the club in July.

“When the team starts playing well, everyone will come to you and say, ‘I told you the team could do it!’

“I believe in the team and the players. I stay behind the players, I know the situation and that the points are important but if you play long ball, nobody can tell me if we’d win or not.

“We lost the game on Saturday on one simple mistake.

“I know it’s difficult to understand but I know where we were five weeks ago with 12 players and 10 players in the second team.

“Players need to make mistakes, they need to understand the situation. If we will have time, I don’t know.

“If you don’t have patience, nothing is possible in life. If you want to be a good doctor, you need 10 years of study and go through all this. I cannot say tomorrow I am a doctor. We have tried to reduce the process with some players, we have tried.

“They need to have a confidence about that. I’m sorry, but I like the process. I like when we try to change something. After, when you change it, everybody is behind you and it is good.”

Last weekend’s opponents have secured seven from nine available points in their three Championship matches so far after what was a bitterly disappointing end to the last campaign. Effective though they have been, it is clear Xisco has little time for Preston’s methods.

The pursuit of panache is one he puts above any notion of short-termism. He strikes as a football idealist with no appetite to trade his principles for points at this stage of the mission. These, he suggests, are the hard yards.

A trip to Cardiff City this weekend will provide Wednesday with another stiff test of mettle, but is another yardstick on where they are. The Owls can swoop over the heads of the one-point Bluebirds with a win in Wales.

“If people ask me do I want to play like Preston, I will say I want to play football,” Xisco continued. “When the process is solid and the players know it you can say ‘this is what we’ve created.’ It’s difficult of course.

“If you only want a one-storey building, it’s easier than 25 stories.

“I agree we need to start winning but I don’t feel pressure about that. I know which point we’re at and exactly what we are working to change.”

“If today we had taken three points, you can ensure the spirit and the situation for everybody is better. The results are important for everybody to understand the process.

“Maybe they [Preston] can play football. They play rugby. I don’t like rugby, I like football. When I want to watch rugby, I watch rugby. When I want to watch football, I watch football.”