Sheffield Wednesday could soon have key defenders Tom Lees and Joost van Aken back in action.
Jos Luhukay’s revelation that Sheffield Wednesday should soon have Tom Lees and Joost van Aken back in contention is likely to leave a few of the pair’s understudies twiddling their thumbs in the second half of the campaign.
Under-23 players Jordan Thorniley, Connor O’Grady and Frederik Nielsen have each appeared at centre-half over the past few weeks – and earned plenty of plaudits in doing so.
With Frederico Venancio, Daniel Pudil and Glenn Loovens for competition too, however, sending the young trio out on loan is perhaps advisable if Wednesday want to avoid stifling their development.
Thorniley, though, spent the first half of the season loaned to Accrington Stanley, and FIFA rules state that, having made his Wednesday debut last weekend, he cannot now play for a third club this season (the same goes for Owls midfielder Sean Clare, who recently returned from a spell at Gillingham and appeared briefly against Sheffield United earlier this month).
The former Everton trainee could still return to Accrington, however (likewise, Clare with Gillingham), although the Owls may be less inclined to allow that, given that he appears to be Luhukay’s pick of the three.
Nothing, though, is stopping Nielsen and O’Grady from heading elsewhere, and having experienced their only tastes of senior football at Hillsborough this month, they are perhaps most in need of a spell away anyway.
Should Sheffield Wednesday loan out Nielsen and O’Grady?
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