David Storch will love what Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna just said about Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has sung Sheffield Wednesday's praises, while David Storch is eager to complete his Owls takeover

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has sung Sheffield Wednesday's praises, even though the Owls remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship table amid their financial struggles.

David Storch has been named as Wednesday's preferred bidder, giving the Owls a tangible route out of administration, which supporters will meet with cautious optimism.

Henrik Pedersen's side avoided defeat for the first time this calendar year when they drew 1-1 with Watford at Hillsborough on 10 March, a game which was attended by Storch and his consortium partner, Tom Costin.

Wednesday are desperate to see the American's takeover get over the line as soon as possible, so that they can begin effectively planning for next season's League One campaign.

The South Yorkshire club were officially relegated to the third tier when they were beaten by local rivals Sheffield United last month, which came as another kick in the teeth amid a challenging season.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna makes positive Sheffield Wednesday admission ahead of Championship clash

Former Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri regularly failed to pay players and non-playing staff on time before ultimately plunging the Owls into administration.

Those developments meant that former star players, including Michael Smith, Josh Windass, Anthony Musaba and Djeidi Gassama, left last summer, while Wednesday legend Barry Bannan joined Millwall in the winter transfer window.

However, ahead of his side's clash with the Owls on Saturday, Ipswich boss McKenna said: "They got a well-deserved point the other night (against Watford). They’ve been close in lots of other games lately, are rarely getting well beaten and are competing really well.

"Credit to him (Pedersen) for that. But, to be honest, they’ve got good Championship-experienced players. You go through their team, and there’s a lot of Championship experience there. There are some strong players.

"Henrik’s doing a really good job managing a difficult situation, and I think it’s a testament to them and probably to the league that a team that is going to get relegated because of the points deduction is still competing in every game. I think it’s a credit to them."

David Storch will be thrilled by what Kieran McKenna has said

Those comments from McKenna, who is a top Championship boss, are certainly music to the ears of Storch as he vies to complete his Wednesday takeover.

The Owls' prospective owner told BBC Radio Sheffield that he wants to have his Wednesday takeover completed by 'very early' May to ensure that the South Yorkshire club can effectively operate when the summer transfer window opens in June.

McKenna's assessment of the Hillsborough side's current squad, meanwhile, will give Storch hope ahead of a League One season which is set to be difficult.

The bid from Storch's consortium has fallen short of the amount required to pay the creditors 25p in the pound, meaning that the Owls will be deducted 15 points next season.

Meanwhile, as reported by the Sheffield Star, Wednesday's weekly wages will be capped at £7k per player next season, which will be detrimental to how competitive they can be next term, and will draw them closer to further relegation to League Two.

However, McKenna's comments highlight that there are still talented and experienced players among the Owls' ranks, which will please Storch ahead of his pending transaction.

The Ipswich boss' judgement is highly trustworthy, as he recently steered the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, which will add to Storch's positive feelings.