OWEN Garvan believes Dougie Freedman is tough enough to ride out the fans’ storm at Wanderers.

There is little hiding the mood of frustration around the Macron Stadium at present, which reared its ugly head several times in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Garvan agreed to link-up with Freedman again last week in a three-month loan move from Crystal Palace and reckons the Whites boss will cope with the flak currently coming his way.

“The thing I took from him when we worked at Palace, which was his first job, was that he was very professional,” Garvan explained. “I have worked with a few managers who were not as professional.

“Things aren’t going too well at the moment but when you put in the kind of work he does I’m sure it will turn it around.

“Every manager gets stick from time to time when results aren’t going well but we’ll put it right. He’ll go again.”

Wanderers are now without a league win in their first six games and remain in the Championship’s bottom three after a tepid afternoon against Wednesday.

Garvan admits he is surprised by the club’s plight but equally hopeful that their situation can soon change.

“The lads have shown resilience, we didn’t lose the game, and there is something to build on,” he said.

“I didn’t realise how big a club this really was until I turned up at the training ground and saw the facilities.

“They have struggled for the first few games but I want to come here and help.

“I’m surprised that the club is down there but things can change really quickly. It was 0-0 today but that could easily have been a goal either way.

“The Championship is just a case of picking yourself up and going again.

“The ball will go in off someone’s backside one week and then we’ll go on a roll, hopefully that can happen to us.” Garvan was part of the Palace side that lost its first three games two years ago but recovered under Freedman to lead the Championship table before his exit in October.

The Eagles went on to win promotion and Garvan believes it is too early to write off the season as a loss.

“I think the club needs to get a first win, get that weight off our shoulders,” he said.

“Some clubs get written off, people say they are not good enough but then things just click. At Palace we lost the first few games and people weren’t giving us a chance, I think we were favourites to go down, but then off we went.

“We didn’t lose the game today and that was important. We have to have responsibility because we’re the players.”

Garvan admits his career at Palace is more than likely through, having been left out of Neil Warnock’s 25-man squad last week.

“There has been a lot of chopping and changing at Palace but I think the club has come on a hell of a lot in the last two years,” he said.

“I wish them well. I want to go and play football.

“There is a slim chance I’ll be there next season, you never know, but I love being out there and getting the buzz on Saturday at 3pm. I want to continue that.”