Sheffield Wednesday's transition from the Championship to League One has gone swimmingly so far and they currently sit second in the division during the first international break of the season.

Darren Moore's side have shown few signs of a relegation hangover from their poor 2020/21 campaign, with three wins, one draw and one defeat in their first five League One matches.

The Owls beat Fleetwood, Doncaster and Rotherham, whilst drawing with Charlton and suffering their only loss against Morecambe in a 1-0 defeat.

With these strong results, Sheffield Wednesday have had a number of players who stood out with impressive performances on the pitch in the league. However, we believe that Moore's key man in August was defender Sam Hutchinson.

The experienced enforcer averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.20 across his three starts in League One, facing Charlton, Doncaster and Fleetwood. He missed the last two matches of the month due to injury, but the fact that Wednesday's only loss came in those two games merely emphasises his impact on the team.

Hutchinson was near-perfect defensively throughout August as he proved himself to be a rock at the heart of Wednesday's defence. As per SofaScore, he won an eye-catching 72% of his duels on the pitch, including a whopping 77% of his aerial battles. This highlights his dominance over his opponents, with the defender winning the majority of his duels to stop opposition players from gaining an advantage over him.

He made two interceptions and three clearances per game in League One, whilst he did not allow a single player to dribble past him in any match. Perhaps most impressively, Hutchinson did not make a single error leading to a shot or goal, showing how reliable he was at the back for Moore.

Sheffield Wednesday conceded zero goals in his three League One outings before going on to lose 1-0 to Morecambe with Hutchinson missing through injury. Given his excellent displays in the other matches during August, Moore's side may have come away with a better result had the 32-year-old been fit for action.

His stonewall defending was key to the Owls starting the season strongly, which was important to build positive momentum following on from such a disappointing campaign in the Championship. This is why he was perhaps Moore's key man during August and hopefully will continue to be for the rest of the campaign.

AND in other news, Moore makes claim on free agent market, it's the right call...