Major Sheffield Wednesday blow as Josh Windass faces spell out

Windass pulled up midway through the Owls’ 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion earlier this week, and Darren Moore admitted that it really put a dampener on things after what had been a good runout against the Baggies.

The Owls boss has been keen to try and limit injuries ahead of the new campaign, but now it’s thought that his main goalscoring threat faces a bit of time on the sidelines.

Wednesday’s competitive fixtures get underway on August 1st when they tackle Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup, and then their first League One fixture – against Charlton Athletic – comes the following weekend.

And while the full extent of Windass’ hamstring injury is not yet known, The Star understands that he will not be able to feature in their opening games of the 2021/22 season as he recovers.

Windass has undergone scans this week to try and assess the damage done, however it remains to be seen exactly how long he faces out – but given his scoring form last season, any absence would be a blow for Moore and his Owls side.

The forward has, understandably, been a target for clubs higher up the football pyramid since Wednesday’s relegation into the third tier, and the Owls are thought to have twice rebuffed offers from Millwall as they sought to bolster their strike force.

For SWFC, a new striker is known to be a key target high up on Wednesday’s list of priorities for the campaign ahead, and an injury to Windass will no doubt give them reason to try and speed up the process as they hunt for somebody to come in who can give them more of a threat in front of goal.

Wednesday may now have to go into this weekend’s preseason friendly against Wrexham without a recognised goalscorer in the side, with Callum Paterson having missed the WBA game due to illness.

The Owls take on the Red Dragons at 1pm on Saturday afternoon.

Sheffield Wednesday exit being finalised as defender prepares to jet out