Sheffield Wednesday: The latest on Kieran Lee's bid for fitness

Like Hooper, Lee hasn't featured in any of the Owls' pre-season and Championship opening day on August 4 at newly-promoted Wigan Athletic is only eight days away.

"He is working very intensively, but Kieran has been out since December," said Luhukay after the 2-1 loss at Mansfield Town last Tuesday. "It is a hard, long way back. He makes a progression and that is important in this situation.

"We are looking at a couple of weeks with Kieran and Gary."

Both players have had hip injuries and haven't played competitively in 2018. Hooper visited a specialist in Spain last week in a bid to speed up his recovery.

"Gary's not free from pain so that's why he had intensive treatment at the weekend," Luhukay said. "It's why we must take go step by step with him. Hopefully he will take two steps forward over the next week.

"He's had it since November/December. He has struggled a long time. Of course, it takes a long time to come back. We must always have patience with the long-time injured players."

Wednesday wrap up their pre-season friendlies tomorrow against Spanish La Liga outfit Villareal at Hillsborough.

Owls v 'the gangrene man' ... Villareal preview