Akin Famewo’s sideline spell explained and why there will likely be more team tinkering at Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday have battled hard to prevent the sort of injury crises that have plagued seasons gone by and have avoided that for much of the campaign – though a raft of issues have reared their heads in recent weeks.

Surprise tweaks have been made to the Owls starting line-ups in recent weeks – Akin Famewo’s switch to the bench for consecutive matches a case in point – and Moore has explained that the fast turnaround of matches has contributed greatly to those decisions.

Wednesday recently played five times in 18 days and asked by The Star whether a more settled line-up is to be expected in a slightly more relaxed fixture schedule, the Owls boss said squad management and sports science will continue to play a major part in his decision making.

“Of course we want to drill down a solid team but you always have contributing factors that change that; volume of games, turnaround, strains, knocks, muscle soreness,” he said.

“I hear about muscle soreness that I won’t necessarily declare out there, I have to make changes there because the last thing I want to do is lose anyone else now with the quick turnaround of games.

“There have been a lot of games with a lot of travel. I have to manage the squad as best I can to make sure we put out a team to win the game, while we are managing one or two unseen things to get the players through.

“If it works out that we can pin down the team, be that back three, midfield, strikers and get no issues then I will be happy to do that.

“But we have to be proactive with things and so far this season I think we’ve done quite well with that. Will we get a settled squad between now and the end of the season? It’s probably unlikely. We have to be adaptable.”

Famewo, who quickly became a terrace favourite with a string of efficient performances following comeback from long-term injury earlier in the season, was taken out of the side for the last two matches after the return of Reece James from injury and Marvin Johnson from suspension.

Management of Famewo’s body was one factor, though Moore also said there were tactical factors at play.

“There’s management of his workload and also going with a couple of players and little tactical things we wanted to do with the opposition,” he said.

“He’s fit and available and he’s ready. I like where he’s at in terms of his recovery from that injury, he’s come in and we know he has wonderful power down that left side and he brings that balance, being a left-foot player that is six-foot-three and can move well.

“He’s fit and available and he’s part of the squad tomorrow so lets have a look.”

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