Garry Monk on Sheffield Wednesday team selection ahead of Rochdale trip and update on Osaze Urhoghide recovery
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The Owls make the trip to Lancashire to face League One ‘Dale fresh off a gruelling 2-0 win against a physical Cardiff City on Saturday.
Progression this evening would see Wednesday face a trip to either Ipswich or Fulham next week and with Watford the guests at Hillsborough on Saturday, it looks like Monk will rotate as he attempts to safeguard against a busy schedule.
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Hide Ad“There will be some changes,” said Monk, speaking to The Star in the moments after the Owls’ first win in Cardiff since 2007. “How many will depend on how we recover. Last week was our first competitive game. The intensity today, in the league, was completely different.
“A lot of energy went into that, something we’ll need to do in every single game, but we’ll assess and make some decisions.
“Cardiff was a hard game and you could see the lads gave everything.”
Rochdale, reportedly among the clubs hit hardest financially by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, are managed by former Wednesday midfielder Brian Barry-Murphy and have billed as third-tier relegation candidates.
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Hide AdThey knocked out Championship Huddersfield Town in the previous round and tasted EFL Trophy success against Morecambe before losing 3-1 to promoted Swindon on Saturday.
“It [Rochdale] will be an opportunity for whoever plays,” Monk said. “We have that winning mentality now and we want to try and continue that for as long as possible now.
“We need to have that winning mentality in every game.”
The Owls boss also offered an update on the recovery of young defender Osaze Urhoghide from a knee injury.
He said: “Osaze’s first full training session was on Friday, so he’s going to need a bit more training, possibly, an under-23 game or two. He’s been out quite a while.
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Hide Ad“He’s done a lot of hard work, don’t get me wrong, but there’s nothing like that training, you need that training.
“We’ll keep assessing him, he’s a naturally strong boy, a fit boy, so he’s not going to need too much. But probably Tuesday is just a little bit too soon.”