Two out of three? Sheffield Wednesday and the chances of loan players staying on

In the lull before the storm of the last eight games, a glimpse of the summer in the hope of a more settled climate.

Loan players succeeding can be a double-edged sword and up to now it’s cut mostly in Sheffield Wednesday’s favour.

Ike Ugbo, Ian Poveda and James Beadle have their names imprinted on the blade of what would be a swashbuckling escape from relegation if it happens - despite that doubt-inducing 6-0 crash at Ipswich last week. So indelible has been their impact (and here’s the other side of the double-edge) that many a potential rival will have been alerted if the Owls try to keep them in the summer. But if the trio are instrumental in maintaining Championship status then they will go down as great signings regardless. And that also happens to be the best - and probably only - way of extending their stays via full-scale deals.

How likely? Well, I’d reckon the Owls would be in with a good shout of at least two. Goalkeeper Beadle is perhaps the one likeliest to be off limits for anything permanent. At 19, he’s being nurtured by Premier League Brighton. It’s via a progression that Wednesday is his third club on loan, after Crewe and Oxford.

You can see a pattern there of Beadle being blooded through the levels and, for experience, Brighton might want him to sample another fresh environment, Championship or higher. One thing for sure, he looks an outstanding young keeper with a great temperament and an old head on young shoulders. Barring the odd awkward moment, he has spread a confidence around him which, for his age and the situation he came into, is pretty remarkable.

With the other two loanees, you’d hope there are deals to be done, as was close to being the case with Poveda’s January switch from Leeds. But sometimes you see a player and wonder how on earth he was on the market in the first place. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder, schooled at Manchester City, is absolutely one of those. A nasty injury while on loan at Blackburn, and leading to a rehabilitating spell with Blackpool, will have been a factor, along with the squad depth at his promotion-bound club, Leeds United.

Poveda is clearly relishing being back in the spotlight and let’s hope that’s not disrupted by another fitness issue post-Ipswich. He allies graft to his craft, and right now you couldn’t see him not wanting to stay at Hillsborough. Same with Ugbo, on loan from French club Troyes and, at 25, enjoying the most fruitful period of a haphazard career. The one-time Chelsea youth player has turned out for eight clubs and Wednesday is his sixth on loan. Big, quick and clever, Ugbo has managed to bundle his attributes together in scoring six times for the Owls. Again, why wouldn’t he want to stay?

Which leaves the big fingers-crossed issue of staying in the Championship. Some decent summer targets in place if Wednesday do!