A number of academy players have trained with Sheffield Wednesday’s first team in recent months.
With three league games in six days to follow, Sheffield Wednesday may use Thursday’s EFL Cup trip to Sunderland as a chance to rest key players.
And that could see opportunities given to some of the Owls’ emerging talents, several of whom spent the summer training and playing with the seniors.
But which ones are most likely to debut at the Stadium of Light? HITC Sport has taken an educated guess…
Matt Penney
A left-footed full-back or winger, Penney is arguably tailor-made for the left-wing-back role utilised throughout the Jos Luhukay era. Unfortunately, Penney was not around to try it out in the early months of the Dutchman’s reign, which he spent on the periphery of Mansfield’s first team squad on loan. But after Morgan Fox’s injury against Hull, Luhukay may consider the 20-year-old, along with Jordan Thorniley or Adam Reach, as the Welshman’s replacement.
Alex Hunt
Shortlisted alongside eventual winner Ryan Sessegnon for last season’s LFE Apprentice of the Year award, Hunt appears to have bypassed under-23 team football to go straight into Wednesday’s senior squad this campaign. The 18-year-old central midfielder was on the bench against Hull and could take the place of either Barry Bannan or Joey Pelupessy at Sunderland.
Fraser Preston
Another involved in the 18 on Saturday, Preston has been involved with the Owls’ first team since the early stages of Luhukay’s reign, but is yet to make his bow. That could all change against Sunderland, however, with the winger likely to rival Marco Matias and George Boyd for the places of Fernando Forestieri and Reach, should either player drop out on Wearside.
Anyone else?
Jack Lee
An unused substitute in each of Sheffield Wednesday’s league games so far, Lee would be an obvious candidate to come in had he not, unlike Hunt and Preston, played for the under-23s on Monday. And while that detail may yet prove insignificant, the absence of Connor O’Grady and Frederik Nielsen at Middlewood Road perhaps reduces the probability of Lee’s inclusion.
Which Sheffield Wednesday youngsters would you like to see against Sunderland?
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