Nightmare training session notches up Owls injury count - update on Tom Lees, Julian Börner, Osaze Urhoghide and Josh Windass as Sheffield Wednesday battle tight schedule
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The Owls lined up with a patched-up side in their midweek defeat to West Brom, with Moses Odubajo having to fill in at centre-half in the absence of captain Tom Lees, Julian Börner and youngster Osaze Urhoghide.
Speaking to The Star, Wednesday boss Garry Monk opened up on a nightmareish day prior to the match that saw them lose two experienced defenders after it was hoped Börner would come through the dead leg he suffered in the weekend’s win at Bristol City.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe said he also hopes to see Josh Windass continue to step up his recovery from a thigh injury in the coming days.
Monk said: “We had a difficult day in terms of preparation, which wasn't ideal. We found that Julian wasn't quite ready but should be fine for the weekend. As we were doing all our preparation, Tom was due to start and he felt his hamstring, so that threw all that into a bit of a re-jiggle.
“I didn't want to change it, we couldn't go to a back four because he didn't have two centre-halves anyway. I wanted to keep with what we were doing and Mo was the one to step into that.
“It was an unfortunate situation but we're not going to use that as an excuse.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“Tom's scan came back all clear, so we'll just be dictated by Tom and how he feels. It's obviously not ideal but I think Mo stepped in manfully.
“We'll check him this week, but he's progressing really well and he's back out on the grass, running and doing ball work, so we'll just check him day-by-day and see how he gets on.
Urhoghide looks to be out for a while and will not make the squad for Swansea, which will also come too soon for Windass.
“Osaze has picked up an injury at the beginning of last week,” Monk said. “It's a bit of a knee injury and it's going to be a couple of weeks, so he's not available.”