Sheffield Wednesday: No excuses! Carlos Carvalhal won't blame injury issues after defeat to Aston Villa

Head coach Carlos Carvalhal refused to use Sheffield Wednesday's mounting injury list as an excuse for the team's 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

A raft of senior players, including Tom Lees, Sam Hutchinson, Almen Abdi and Fernando Forestieri, were forced to sit-out the trip to Villa Park.

And club captain Glenn Loovens was taken off late in the second half after picking up a knock as Jonathan Kodjia’s double sentenced the Owls to a second successive defeat away from Hillsborough.

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Carvalhal said: “We don’t want excuses. We know we missed players like Tom, Sam, Kieran Lee, Almen Abdi, Fernando and Gary Hooper.

“We are, of course, more strong when we have more options but we can’t cry over the players we don’t have. We must deal with the players that we have and we have plenty of confidence in them.”

Forestieri picked up a knee problem against Burton Albion last week but Carvalhal was quick to dismiss talk that Wednesday’s leading marksman could be sidelined for the rest of the season, describing it as “speculation”. Carvalhal confirmed the 11-goal attacker will be assessed by the Owls’ medical staff today but has not ruled him out from featuring against Reading this Friday.

“Fernando has some pain in the knee,” he said. “He wasn’t available to play.

“We don’t know exactly the extent of the situation.

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“We will analayse the situation during the week but we have some expectations that he can be involved on Friday.

“On Monday, he will come to the training and let’s see when he starts moving and training with the team his reaction.”

The Portuguese boss refused to comment on Vincent Sasso’s red card but revealed referee Lee Probert sent him to the stands after he stepped out of his technical area.

“I spoke to the referee,” he said. “I did not offend anyone. I didn’t complain. I was sent off because I was out of the technical area.

“The emotions were high with the sending-off but at no time was I using any bad words. I wasn’t critical of any decisions.”