Akin Famewo in the clear for Sheffield Wednesday – opens up on recovery and ‘doing his bit’ for Ben Heneghan and Michael Ihiekwe

The former Norwich City defender, who went down injured just half an hour into his full Owls debut in the August win over MK Dons, has been the subject of staged contributions in the club’s second-string in recent weeks and made the bench in Saturday’s goalless draw at Derby County.

And he said full-match involvement in the Owls’ 3-0 friendly win against Huddersfield Town B was the last frontier to contention for a first team berth.

Speaking to The Star after the match, he said: “It’s another box ticked and I’m just delighted to be back out playing, to dust my legs off again. I’m happy to have got another one under my belt

“I’ve done 45 minutes, then 70 minutes and now 90, so hopefully that one puts me in the clear.

“I cannot wait to get back involved. The boys have done excellently even without me being back so I just want to be a part of that, really kick on and finish the season as strongly as I can.

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“The boys are flying. They’re doing really well and it’s clean sheet after clean sheet at the moment. I just want to be a part of that so much now. I cannot wait to get back into the fold.”

Famewo’s return comes at an opportune time for both player and club given recent long-term injury to Ben Heneghan and Michael Ihiekwe.

Having been through similar heartbreak in recent months, the 24-year-old has their back but understands it’s important he steps up when the time is right.

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“It’s an opportunity for me, but it’s heartbreaking for the lads,” he said. “I’m just heartbroken for both of them. I’m going to do my bit to support them the same way they supported me and hopefully they’ll be back to lift a trophy or celebrate automatic promotion with us come the end of the season.

“You can’t say too much to them. The first few weeks is about processing it and getting your head back. When it happened to me I needed that bit of time to myself to process and get going. Now they’re ready to get back on that recovery.”