Sheffield Wednesday suffer fresh Sam Winnall blow

Winnall, who has not played a first-team match since February, suffered a hamstring problem while on Owls Under-23s duty in October.

It is the second injury Winnall has picked up since recovering from major knee surgery. His last first-team outing came while on loan at Derby County last February.

Jos Luhukay, the Wednesday boss, said: "He has been out since February. He is one player who has been away for a long time away from the team.

"He has now had two injuries since coming back. One with calf and the other with his hamstring.

"The medical team say four to six weeks to me.

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"I think it (the international break) will be too short for him to come back but you never know how he will progress. We will see how he is in two to three weeks.

"We must give him time and patience to come back 100 per cent."

Defender Joost van Aken is poised to step up his Owls comeback by featuring in a development match next week. He completed the first half of Wednesday's U23s defeat to Burnley, having recovered from an ankle issue.

"Joost van Aken is very well and he played the first half of Monday's U23 game," said Luhukay. "He will also play on Monday for the Under-23s."

But Luhukay fears Kieran Lee may need to go under the knife to cure his injury woes. Lee is currently out with a knee problem and has not played at senior level in 11 months.

Luhukay said: "We can't give an exact time on Kieran on when he will be ready. Maybe Kieran will need a surgery in the next days and weeks.'

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