Impressive Sheffield Wednesday defender on Dominic Iorfa and 10 month injury woe

The 28-year-old, who made his Owls bow 23 matches into the season after signing on a free transfer from Wigan in August, offered a confident performance at the heart of defence having finally completed his comeback from a double leg break suffered back in February.

But as that ray of sunshine made its way through the dark clouds swirling above Hillsborough, a lightning bolt smashed into the heart of the squad, with Wednesday boss Tony Pulis confirming after their 2-1 derby day defeat to Barnsley that player of the year Dominic Iorfa would miss the rest of the season with a serious achilles injury.

“It didn't look good,” an emotional Dunkley said in the immediate aftermath of the disappointing afternoon.

“When things are going against you, it seems everything does. Touch wood, it's not as harsh as what we think. It's a blow.

“We've got myself Joost, Börner, Leesy, Palmer. But he's a massive character for us so it's not nice to see him come off.

“To be fair to him he tried to play on which shows the character that he is.

“I've been there and it's horrible.”

On his own injury, which saw him face the wrath of frustrated fans on social media as his return date was set further and further back, he said: “I had pins removed because they were causing me aggro.

"This is my first big injury. I was pushing very hard and maybe that was my downfall.

“I had no experience at having a big injury so maybe I was pushing too much. I then had to build myself back up. The medical team are then more reserved because once you have a pull-up you don't want any more setbacks.

“You have to respect that when you have an injury like I did, it's hard mentally.

“You see social media, we're human. I'm working hard to try and get on the pitch. I'm not here to be a passenger. I want to be a part of it and that's my character.”

MORE FROM OUR WEDNESDAY WRITING TEAM

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