All seven of Sheffield Wednesday’s fitness concerns as Owls try to regain top spot

The Owls battled for their 2-2 on Saturday afternoon, extending their unbeaten run to 17 matches, a result made more impressive by the fact that they had to enact a late squad reshuffle due to late injuries picked up by their players.

Darren Moore said afterwards that Lee Gregory, Jack Hunt, Mallik Wilks and Reece James were all ruled out not long before the encounter in Suffolk – with young Rio Shipston and Sean Fusire making it into the matchday squad on the back of their absences.

Now, with a return to Hillsborough on Tuesday night, here’s a breakdown on the latest situations regarding Wednesday’s seven walking wounded – and when they could be back in action.

Lee Gregory – tonsilitis

Thankfully with the Wednesday forward, he isn’t expected to be unavailable for long. He was effectively not risked against Ipswich but could return against Morecambe on Tuesday.

Jack Hunt – dead leg

Hunt was due to be part of the squad against Ipswich on Saturday, but a collision with Marvin Johnson in the 24 hours before the game left him with a dead leg and he was ultimately left out of the game.

Mallik Wilks – calf

Moore said he limped off in training with a slight calf injury, and though it’s not thought to be a serious issue they didn’t want to take any chances by using him in the game against the Tractor Boys.

Reece James – ankle

The Blackpool loanee was 50/50 for Portman Road, but felt some soreness in the build-up and it was decided that he’d be given a bit longer in his recovery. It’s to be assumed that he may well be in contention for the Shrimps visit.

Callum Paterson - muscle

The good news is that he doesn’t need surgery, but the bad news is that he’s going to be out of action for quite a while with a muscle injury. The Owls manager said it’d be a while before he was back, but admitted that the ‘quick healer’ could still play his part this season.

Michael Ihiekwe - knee

It was originally stated that the big Owls defender would face a couple of months out after he picked up an injury in the FA Cup, but he’s suffered a setback since and will now only be back for the latter part of the campaign.

Ben Heneghan - knee

Heneghan has been out for longer than anybody else, and is expected to be out until a later date too. Moore has stated that he won’t play again this season as he recovers from a knee injury.

Wednesday face Morecambe at 7.45pm on Tuesday knowing that a victory could take them back to the top of the League One table if Plymouth Argyle don’t pick up maximum points on their trip to Oxford United.

Moore is likely to make changes to the XI that started at Portman Road, even if it’s just to maintain some squad rotation in a busy period.

MORE: Worrying absence of Owls trio explained – and why Reece James missed out