Clues laid out as to Sheffield Wednesday team news – why one-per-hour man won’t feature at Southampton

The Owls are hoping to jump into the fourth round of the competition for the fifth time in six seasons and spring an upset against a Saints side without a manager after the dismissal of Ralph Hasenhüttl earlier this week.

Wednesday boss Darren Moore has preferred to use cup outings this season as an opportunity to give minutes to some of the squad’s more fringe players, as well as some of the club’s younger starlets.

And it could be that a handful of those youngsters are again offered an opportunity to impress if the teamsheet for Tuesday afternoon’s under-21s outing at Crewe Alexandra – which ended in a 2-0 Owls win – is anything to read into.

The Owls line-up was missing the likes of Bailey Cadamarteri, Will Trueman, David Agbontohoma and Pierce Charles, hinting they could perhaps feature for Wednesday’s seniors.

Wednesday will be without long-term absentees Dennis Adeniran and Akin Famewo at St Mary’s, while Cameron Dawson will miss out after a freak training ground incident leaves him observing concussion protocols.

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Jack Hunt is also likely to miss out alongside pace pair Alex Mighten and Mallik Wilks, both of whom are cup-tied after outings earlier in the season with Nottingham Forest and Hull City respectively.

Both are in some of the best form in their young Owls careers, with Wilks having achieved a tally of a goal contribution every 59.5 minutes in League One football this season.