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Laws hopes for return of key men
SHEFFIELD Wednesday will look for the boost of welcoming back key players James O'Connor and Richard Wood at Birmingham on Saturday after the blow of losing Tony McMahon to a three-match ban and being beaten by Barnsley.
McMahon was sent off in last night's 2-1 defeat at Oakwell for a tackle on the Reds' former Sheffield United full-back, Rob Kozluk.
The Owls were unexpectedly without O'Connor and Wood because of hamstring and groin problems respectively.
Steve Watson (groin) was not thought fit enough to start the match but played for the second half, and Marcus Tudgay went off in the first half with a groin injury.
Laws, who made five changes to his starting line-up, believes that fresh problems highlighted the lack of strength in depth in his small squad.
"Two games in three days took a lot out of us," said the Owls manager, whose team have slipped from fifth to 10th in the table.
"It just shows you that I might have a reasonable squad when everybody is fit, but it's not good enough when you make five changes.
"We've got another massive away game at Birmingham on Saturday
"Watson should be okay, though he certainly couldn't have done 90 minutes against Barnsley. O'Connor should be okay; we needed an extra day for him, and it's similar with Wood.
"We had to take Tudgay off more to protect him than anything, and hopefully he'll be okay."
Laws had no grumbles about McMahon's dismissal, and Barnsley manager Simon Davey felt it was a deserved red card.
Francis Jeffers made his first senior start since January but, with the team down to 10 men, was sacrificed at half time as Laws felt that he had to strengthen midfield by sending on Watson.
There was no role on the bench for Akpo Sodje as Laws had all his strikers available and he felt that a second derby outing in three days could have been too much for Sodje as he makes a gradual return to full fitness.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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