Carvalhal left Sheffield Wednesday with a spate of injuries.
Sheffield Wednesday defender Tom Lees has described Jos Luhukay’s policy of easing recovering players back into the first team picture as ‘a bit of common sense’.
Lees is one of a handful of key Owls men who have returned to fitness in recent weeks, but was made to prove his readiness to play through a combination of weeks of training and under-23 fixtures before he was considered by new boss Luhukay.
In contrast, the Dutchman’s predecessor, Carlos Carvalhal, took a less cautious approach during his two and a half years in charge – one which some suggest may have prompted this season’s spate of injuries at Hillsborough.
And, speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield on Monday, Lees admitted Luhukay’s methods are ‘probably for the better’.
“If you’ve not been playing for a couple of months, I think it’s maybe an unrealistic ask to just chuck someone in after a day’s training to go and play 90 minutes in the Championship,” said the 27-year-old, who has missed close to four months of football this campaign.
“As well, the players are hungry to play when they come back, because they’ve been kept waiting a bit more and they’re champing at the bit to play and that’s certainly been the case with us three that have come in over the past few weeks. I think it’s probably for the better because you’re at less risk of injuring yourself. Coming back from absolutely zero and just being chucked straight into it, the chances are you’re probably going to break down again.
“[The new policy is a] change from how things were done previously at this club. Any other club I’ve been at, it’s always been the case. [Under Carvalhal,] you’d probably be out for a few months, have one or two sessions and you’re back in. I don’t think anybody complained because you want to be back out on the pitch as soon as you can.
“But you’ve got to look after your body and no one’s superhuman, no one can go from not really doing much for however many weeks to playing in a game straight away. Otherwise you wouldn’t do a pre-season – players wouldn’t bother training if that was the case. It’s just about a bit of common sense I think, really.”
Long-term absentees Fernando Forestieri and Joost van Aken look set to follow Lees, Sam Hutchinson and Barry Bannan back to first team action in the coming weeks, and Lees explained how the extra competition could help Wednesday’s fortunes in the season’s closing stage.
He added: “It’s nice to see players coming back into the team. It’s not anybody’s given right. So everybody’s had to go through the process of coming back into the team – as the manager wants to do it. I think when they’ve come back into the team so far they’ve done pretty well and they’ve improved the team.
“Hopefully that can continue, it just makes competition for places a bit harder because at some points over the season if you’re fit you’ve been playing. It’ll be nice to have that edge again throughout the week when players are trying to earn their place on a Saturday.”
As of yet, there is no sign of an imminent return for Wednesday stars Keiren Westwood, Kieran Lee, Sean Clare, Ross Wallace, Marco Matias, Gary Hooper or Steven Fletcher.
Is Carvalhal to blame for Sheffield Wednesday’s injury problems?
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