Sheffield Wednesday had as many as seven key players missing against Reading.
Sheffield Wednesday fans
Sheffield Wednesday’s mini-season begins at Barnsley on Saturday.
The injury-ravaged Owls have somehow managed to keep hold of sixth place, despite winning just one of their last six league fixtures.
However, with key men slowly returning, there’s a renewed sense of hope among the Wednesday fanbase.
Gary Hooper, Fernando Forestieri, Ross Wallace, Callum McManaman, Sam Hutchinson, Almen Abdi and Kieran Lee all missed the defeat to Reading, but how many will return at Oakwell?
Here’s HITC’s educated guess at Carlos Carvalhal’s starting lineup:
Sheffield Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal
Keiren Westwood – fresh from international duty, the Irishman is expected to continue ahead of Joe Wildsmith
Jack Hunt, Tom Lees, Glenn Loovens, Morgan Fox – the two-week break came at the right time, allowing both Lees and Loovens to hone their fitness and the pair should be accompanied by both Hunt, to the right, and Morgan Fox, to the left, with Liam Palmer and Daniel Pudil on standby.
Callum McManaman, Sam Hutchinson, Barry Bannan, Adam Reach – Hutchinson was on media duty this week, implying he’ll feature after three-and-a-half games out, alongside Bannan who only played 45 minutes for Scotland. Doubts remain over Wallace and Forestieri, so McManaman and Reach are Wednesday’s likely wide pairing. The substitutes’ bench looms for Will Buckley and David Jones, although Abdi is not expected to feature and Lee remains sidelined. Lee could, however, make an unlikely return to action before the end of the campaign, according to Carvalhal.
Sam Winnall, Jordan Rhodes – Winnall’s return to old club Barnsley has been one of the main talking points this week, although Carvalhal hinted he could leave out the £500,000 man at Oakwell. Hooper is in contention, but may not be fit to start, although Steven Fletcher and Atdhe Nuhiu are both fit and available, with the Scot the more likely of the two to fill in for Winnall.
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