The issue Sheffield Wednesday must address to push for promotion next season

The Owls have been blighted by injuries to a raft of key players, including Sam Hutchinson, Kieran Lee and Fernando Forestieri, over the past 18 months. There were several occasions in the 2018/19 season where their list of absentees ran into double figures.

Their injury troubles have not gone unnoticed by Bruce. The four-time promotion winner, appointed Wednesday boss in January, has pledged to conduct a root and branch review of their issues this summer.

Bruce, who has offered new contracts to out-of-contract trio Keiren Westwood, Liam Palmer and Lee, reckons an intensive summer of pre-season training will benefit the squad.

Dawson told The Star: "I imagine there will be a bit of a turnaround in personnel in the summer.

"The manager will want to bring in a few fresh faces to add to what we have got.

"We have some real quality but we obviously need less injuries, a few new faces and hopefully we can mount a challenge (next season)."

The academy graduate is adamant the Owls' lengthy injury list undermined their promotion aspirations. Despite an encouraging second half of the campaign, Steve Bruce's men finished 12th, 10 points shy of the play-off positions.

Dawson, who played 28 times last term, said: "It (injuries) definitely hurt us. When big players are out injured, it obviously hurts you.

"When we got most of the boys back towards the end of the season, it gave the place a real lift.

"Hopefully we can really kick on, improve our fitness levels and get stronger and stronger."