Defensive return and surprise senior selection as Sheffield Wednesday win takes youngsters top

The Dane came on board at Wednesday in the January transfer window, however was injured just two games into his time at S6 and has since been working his way back to fitness in an attempt to get him back in contention before the end of the campaign.

Now, on the back of a demoralising defeat away at Middlesbrough on Monday, Pedersen was handed a starting berth for the U21s in their Professional Development League match against Wigan Athletic, playing at left back in a backline consisting of Gui Siqueira, Gabriel Otegbayo and Adam Alimi-Adetoro.

A more surprising choice in the starting XI was that of Cam Dawson, with the goalkeeper getting a full 90 minutes under his belt for the first time since the January clash with Southampton - Pedersen, meanwhile, went off at the break in what was no doubt a planned substitution.

Dawson made one excellent stop in particular after a defensive lapse handed Wigan a massive opportunity not too long after Favour Onukwuli has given them the lead following some fine work from Joey Phuthi down the right hand side.

Andy Holdsworth's side were pretty in control despite a couple of scares, but it took them until the second half to make it count. Onukwuli won a penalty not long after the restart, though Jay Buchan saw his effort saved, and the tricky winger then clipped the crossbar with a good effort after being fed by Phuthi.

Join our Whatsapp channel for your Wednesday news without the fuss of social media

The second did come eventually though, with Mackenzie Maltby pressing well to win the ball on the edge of the box, and he unselfishly centred it for Bruno Fernandes to slot into an empty net.

It could, and probably should, have been more than 2-0 in the end, but the win was enough to take them top of the PDL table this afternoon, leapfrogging Birmingham City who play this evening.