Michael Smith’s mysterious Sheffield Wednesday absence explained amid Derby County rumours

There has been plenty said about Wednesday’s top scorer from last year of late, with Derby County having had a loan bid rejected by the Owls as Paul Warne sought to reunite with his former Rotherham United forward.

So when his name was missing from the matchday squad in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night there were plenty of raise eyebrows, but it turns out it was sickness that ruled him out at the 11th hour, the Wednesday boss explaining that he was due to be in the starting XI for the penalty shootout victory against the Hatters.

Speaking to the media after the game, which ended 1-1, he said, “He arrived in prematch and he spoke with the doctor about his situation because he felt a bit sick, and me and the doctor decided that he wouldn’t stay in the squad today… But he was starting, yesterday I was working with them because it was the first time that the 11 was together.

“We’ll see tomorrow if he’s good, I hope he’s ready to play against Hull. We wanted to play 4-4-2 and we worked all week on it… It was changed at the last moment.

“It’s normal that clubs want Michael Smith, he’s a brilliant striker who last season scored 20 goals. Of course it’s normal… Right now he’s an important player for us, and we’re thinking that he’ll be ready to play the next game.”

Wednesday take on Hull City on Saturday afternoon in their first away game of the season, and they’ll be desperate to try and get their first three points on the board as they make the short trip to the MKM Stadium.