Sheffield Wednesday are likely to have 14 first team players missing for Saturday’s trip to Barnsley.
Sheffield Wednesday are likely to have 14 first team players missing for Saturday’s trip to Barnsley, Owls manager Jos Luhukay revealed to the BBC at a press conference on Thursday.
Marco Matias [knee] is the latest Wednesday man set for a spell on the sidelines, while Glenn Loovens and Jacob Butterfield both missed training this week.
With Daniel Pudil suspended and no sign of the 10 others – bar Tom Lees, who is expected to play for Wednesday’s development squad next week – who have missed much of the past month or more, Luhukay hinted that at least one of the Owls’ Under-23 side which beat Sheffield United on Monday could start at Oakwell.
Of those, Frederik Nielsen, Connor O’Grady and Sean Clare have already appeared for the Dutchman’s first team, while Ash Baker, Jack Stobbs and Preslav Borukov impressed at Bramall Lane.
With Wednesday especially short at centre-back, however – Pudil, Lees, Glenn Loovens, Joost van Aken and Sam Hutchinson are all unavailable in that position – it is likely that either Nielsen or O’Grady will emerge as Luhukay’s mystery man.
Here’s how HITC Sport expects Sheffield Wednesday to look at Barnsley:
Who else is missing?
Barry Bannan is not yet ready to return for the Owls, while Kieran Lee, Fernando Forestieri and Steven Fletcher – who is expected to miss the rest of the season – are all long-term absentees.
None of Keiren Westwood, Gary Hooper, Almen Abdi, Hutchinson or Van Aken were discussed in Luhukay’s BBC interview.
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