Slaughtered last week, fortunes of Tottenham’s Josh Onomah now look brighter than ever as Sheffield Wednesday ‘near’ Steve Bruce appointment

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The writing appeared to be on the wall for the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder at Sheffield Wednesday.

“Not good enough. Brought nothing on the ball. Had no influence on the game.” Those words, spoken about the on-loan Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Josh Onomah, proved to be among the last uttered by Jos Luhukay as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

At the time, it appeared the writing may be on the wall for Onomah at Wednesday, where he had gone more than a month without starting before the 45-minute appearance that had Luhukay seething. Some Spurs fans had predicted a January recall. Some of the Owls’ – many of whom had disagreed with the Dutchman’s assessment – feared the same.

But Luhukay’s sacking on Friday evening presented Onomah with another – and perhaps final – chance to salvage something from his Hillsborough spell in the absence of the Barry Bannan, the Sheffield Wednesday talisman who had been keeping him out of the team.

Bannan returns from suspension for the Owls’ Boxing Day trip to Middlesbrough, where he could now find himself playing alongside, as opposed to in place of, Onomah. It follows a resurgent performance against Preston North End on Saturday, in which the Tottenham kid showed the character to overcome his former boss’s scathing assessment and create the game’s only goal for Michael Hector.

Onomah’s 81st-minute substitution was met with a standing ovation, which was every bit for him as it was for his replacement, Sam Hutchinson, the Luhukay-exiled midfielder adored by the Wednesday faithful.

Luhukay’s successor is almost certain to be Steve Bruce, the manager who signed Onomah from Aston Villa 18 months ago and with whom the 21-year-old shares a positive relationship (both men received public support from the other during difficult times this calendar year).

And little more than a week after it appeared to have hit rock-bottom, Onomah’s Sheffield Wednesday career may be about to take off – assuming, of course, that Tottenham allow it.