Sheffield Wednesday star Fernando Forestieri opens up on his injury troubles

The skilful forward, a £3m recruit from Watford in August 2015, has endured two lengthy spells on the sidelines this term.

Forestieri sat-out five matches after picking up a hamstring problem against Bristol City last October.

He returned to action in November but suffered a fresh injury setback in Wednesday's away defeat to Blackburn Rovers at the start of December. Forestieri, a half-time substitute at Ewood Park, hobbled off in the closing stages of the Championship fixture because of a torn hamstring. The knock ruled the Argentine-born forward out of the Owls' entire festive schedule.

After several weeks of rehabilitation, Forestieri made his Wednesday comeback in Sunday's FA Cup defeat against Chelsea. He was a second half substitute in their 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

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"I am happy to be back playing and it was good to get 20 minutes," Forestieri told The Star. "It was very difficult coming back from the injury.

"I've had two hamstring injuries (this season), which is frustrating.

"But I have come back now and I hope I don't get anymore injuries between now and the end of the season."

Forestieri finished top-scorer in each of his first two campaigns at Hillsborough.

But a combination of injury, form and suspension has restricted the 29-year-old to just 14 appearances this time around.

Forestieri has notched three goals in 12 second-tier outings but has yet to feature in a winning Owls team when starting a match.

He added: "I hope to not get anymore injuries. I want to try and stay fit for the rest of the season."

Premier League Chelsea proved too strong for Wednesday in the fourth round of the world's oldest cup competition, cruising to a 3-0 success after a Willian double and a superb individual goal from Callum Hudson-Odoi.

"It was very difficult against Chelsea as we didn't have a lot of the ball but the boys tried their best," said Forestieri. "We did very well in the first half.

"But we need to improve a lot because you can see the difference between the Premier League and the Championship."