FRANKIE Simek and Steve Watson are leading the way as the Owls' long-term injured race back to fitness.
Both played full games in the reserves' 2-0 win at York last night.
Neither will be considered for Saturday's big Championship match at Coventry, and the club will take stock on the duo after another reserve match against Leeds next Tuesday.
But they are nearing the end of their fightbacks - welcome news as the Owls gather their resources together for the scrap against relegation.
Francis Jeffers too is bidding for a comeback: he scored last night but came off after 35 minutes as a precautionary measure after feeling a little soreness in his ankle and with the Owls not wanting to take any risks in a careful build-up for the striker.
Simek has been out for three months with an ankle injury; Watson has played only a handful of games in a similar period of time because of hamstring trouble; Jeffers's ankle was injured almost five months ago and a comeback at Christmas had to be cut short.
Another injury victim, Peter Gilbert, played for the first half last night after being out for three weeks with a groin injury.
On Saturday, the Owls will still be without Ben Sahar, who was set to return from a hamstring injury but has now caught tonsillitis and is due back at Hillsborough next week after being treated at Chelsea.
Assistant manager Russ Wilcox said "We didn't expect Frankie to play for 90 minutes ; we were looking for 60 to 70 minutes from him; but he's such a strong character. Steve Watson came through as well, so there are two positives for us.
"They have been out for a long time, so I wouldn't think we'll consider them for Saturday; we have another reserve game next week and hopefully they'll build up from that .
"We'll monitor Franny as well. He scored a goal that was typical of him: he picked his spot in the corner. Ronnie Wallwork scored with a good header from a cross by Rocky Lekaj. We were 2-0 after about 25 minutes, and it was decent performance."
What a difference a week makes for Blades, Owls and Barnsley: Read Martin Smith's views on the changing fortunes of local clubs.READ MORE Football headlines.More Blades.More Owls.More Spireites.More Rovers.More Reds.More Millers.More Ice Hockey.More rugby.More boxing.Sports columnists.All sport categories. The full article contains 431 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
