Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk offers injury update on Steven Fletcher after top scorer is stretchered off in FA Cup win at Brighton

Fletcher was in agony after landing awkwardly in a collision with Seagulls defender Gaetan Bong as the match approached the hour-mark at 0-0.

Adam Reach’s goal put the Owls into the fourth round as they ran out 1-0 winners in Fletcher’s absence. Wednesday make the trip to top-of-the-table Leeds United next weekend.

And while Monk admits there is reason to be concerned over the front man’s fitness, he said initial test results are positive and that they remain hopeful the injury will keep him out for a matter of days, not weeks.

“He just landed very awkwardly,” Monk said. “When I first saw it, it didn’t look like a twist, he just seemed to hyper-extend it.

“The problem is that all the weight goes through your leg and it can be quite painful.

“The x-ray has come back clear, which is a good thing, but we’ll have to check the swelling and the bruising and where that is.

“Obviously we have to be very hopeful that it isn’t anything serious. It didn’t look good and we’ll know more when there’s more checks.”

Fletcher, 32, was making his first start for the club since contracting a virus before Christmas.

That absence coincided with a three-match run of defeats that saw the Owls fall from third place to outside the Championship play-off places.

Monk said: “The good thing is that the x-ray has come back good, so there’s no break or anything like that.

“If it’s a hyperextension then it shouldn’t be too long, it would be days or a week.

“But we’ll have to see about the damage around the knee. At this moment in time I can’t say whether it’s going to be this or that.”

“Best case scenario is that it’s three, four, seven days. That’s what we’ll be lighting a candle for, we’ll have to see.”