Watch Lee Bullen's cryptic message after Fernando Forestieri was left out of Sheffield Wednesday's line-up for late win over Rotherham

A wry smile and a semi-cryptic clue was just about all reporters got when Lee Bullen was asked why Fernando Forestieri was left out of the starting line-up for Sheffield Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win at Rotherham United on Wednesday.
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Many expected the Argentina-born forward to start in the derby, with caretaker boss Bullen instead opting with the likes of Atdhe Nuhiu, Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall.

Forestieri, who is in the process of an appeal against a six-match ban for using racist language in a pre-season friendly last summer, has had his pitch time limited since the arrivals of Jacob Murphy and Kadeem Harris.

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He came on for Joey Pelupessy with quarter of an hour to go. Asked whether he sees Forestieri as an impact player, Bullen suggested the former Italy youth international could get a start against QPR on Saturday.

He said: "Not at all, we have got an eye on the weekend. I thought he came on and gave a positive impact with Atdhe on Saturday [against Preston]. There is every chance that Fernando could be involved in Saturday.”

Later asked why he was left out of the starting line-up, Bullen said: “There might be method in that. I’ll leave that up to you.”