Broken bone revealed for important Sheffield Wednesday man with sit-out confirmed
Influential Sheffield Wednesday defender Di’Shon Bernard will sit out their weekend clash at Derby County - and played out their 2-0 win at Hull City on Tuesday wearing a protective face mask.
The Jamaica international was again a key performer in the win at the MKM Stadium, making a number of important defensive interventions and receiving praise from manager Danny Röhl for his renewed calm and decision-making in possession of the ball.
Wednesday supporters quickly noticed Bernard was wearing a protective face mask in the Hull clash. Regardless, he will miss out on the trip to Derby County on Sunday as he has accrued five Championship yellow cards and therefore has been slapped with a one-match suspension. Cautions tallies reset after 19 matches, with Yan Valery currently sat on four.
“He has a broken nose,” Röhl revealed to The Star post-match. “He did it at Cardiff, on the right side, late on in the game and there was a free-kick given against us. When we speak about Dish we should say he performance now goes exactly in the right direction and this is what I want to see from him. This is the Dish. He has big goals for the future and for here and he needs to step up. So far he has stepped up.
“His story this season is that he arrived very late into pre-season and you felt that in the beginning. He was not 100 per cent fit enough to play consistently on a level, but now he played, played, played. He is calm on the ball, very strong against the ball, good decision making.
With Akin Famewo out injured for the long term and Michael Ihiekwe only recently back in full training, Wednesday’s options to cover for Bernard are a pinch more limited than they were. Dominic Iorfa came off the bench at Hull and would be expected to file into the backline.
“You see we have a good squad,” Röhl said. “We have a squad that is able to cover for the next one. We have Dom, we have Gab (Otegbayo), we have Liam (Palmer) who can play in there. They are good opportunities and again for the next player it is to step up, step up. It’s good to see and this is what I want from my players, their moment will come. You have to be ready. It (Bernard missing) is a shame but we have other players who can come in and do this.”