Ernie Weaver's Sheffield Wednesday outing detailed with loan clubs still circling
Sheffield Wednesday defender Ernie Weaver made his first League One start of the season in a 1-1 draw with Cambridge United.
A battling performance in a patched-up defence earned Ernie Weaver fan applause on Tuesday evening, in what was his first League One start of the campaign.
The young defender came through a challenging start to the game and came up against a tricky prospect in Cambridge United number nine Louis Appéré to offer big numbers for his ‘old school’ defending, producing a tally of 15 clearances and five successful aerial duels along with three blocks. He was partnered by Max Lowe, ordinarily a left back.
Weaver has a great deal still to learn with just nine league appearances to his name and has been the subject of interest from a number of National League clubs over the last weeks. Switches to Forest Green Rovers and Hornchurch FC have been halted and The Star understands that Boston United are among the fifth tier outfits keeping an eye on his availability moving forward.
Senior man Liam Cooper sat out the Cambridge clash in what is a busy period of matches and it’s understood that returning defender Sil Swinkels was under consideration for a start before Weaver and Lowe were paired. Wednesday were often hurt in transition moments with both sides trading chances throughout the game.
Speaking to media post-match, caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw said on the defensive efforts in Cooper’s absence: “I thought Ernie Weaver and Max Lowe stepping in had a good game in all honesty. I thought we started off a little bit shaky but I thought we've grown into the game. But you’re right, it's really noticeable that the back two we've played probably wouldn't be the first choice, recognised centre-backs, and that's not a disrespect to them. But we missed senior players in that area tonight.
“It's difficult to say. But I don't think some of the counter-attacking opportunities might have happened if we had a bit more seniority back there.”
A cramped-up Weaver was substituted late on to offer Swinkels his first appearance in over two months. With Gabriel Otegbayo taking a stint out of the reckoning for now, Ricardo Santos and Di’Shon Bernard are due to return sooner rather than later and it is hoped Cooper will not be out long.
On Weaver’s performance, Hamshaw told The Star: “A bit shaky at the start of the night, I thought it was good and dealt with things really well. Look, it was a difficult game to come into. They had a big number nine, who we had to look after and I think that he didn't probably get in positions well enough the first 20 minutes, as you probably heard me shouting from the side of the pitch. And then, as the game progressed, he grew into it a lot more. And then, obviously, he cramped up at the end.
“So that's another thing I've just said to him in there. We have to be better at that. We can't be having players cramping up here, there and everywhere and that's no disrespect to Ernie, because I thought it was excellent tonight. But we have to be prepared physically for a fight and a scrap and put our bodies out there.”