No Ravel Morrison and a red card – Steel City Derby ends in thumping defeat for first-team-heavy Sheffield Wednesday U23s against Sheffield United

It could be a while before there’s a fully-fledged Steel City Derby, and Sheffield United certainly took bragging rights away from Middlewood Road today.
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The Blades took on a Sheffield Wednesday side brimming with first team players such as Matt Penney, Andre Green, Izzy Brown, Elias Kachunga and Kadeem Harris, but still managed to come out on top thanks to goals from Femi Seriki, Iliman Ndiaye (x2) and Max Lowe in a 4-0 win for the visitors.

And things went from bad to worse as the game came to an end, with Brown being given a straight red card for an off the ball incident that saw his side reduced to 10 men not long before the fourth goal went in.

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It’s another defeat for Lee Bullen’s U23s as they remain rooted to the bottom of the Professional Development League North table following a four-game winless run.

The Blades, meanwhile, couldn’t be doing any better as they find themselves sitting pretty at the top of the table with just three defeats all season, and their coaching duo of Graham Coughlan and Darren Currie will have been delighted with the result – especially given the calibre and experience of some of their opponents.

As for Wednesday, they’ll be incredibly disappointed to have been so heavily beaten by their local rivals, particularly after they managed a very credible 1-1 draw against them earlier this month with a much younger group of players.

It’s certainly worth noting that there was no Ravel Morrison present for Wednesday following his training spell with the Owls, however there has been no indication yet with regards to whether a final decision has been made on him or not.

Sheffield Wednesday's U23s were beaten 4-0 by Sheffield United today. (via @SWFC)Sheffield Wednesday's U23s were beaten 4-0 by Sheffield United today. (via @SWFC)
Sheffield Wednesday's U23s were beaten 4-0 by Sheffield United today. (via @SWFC)
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Morrison was named in the Jamaican national team squad for their games against the United States of America on Thursday, however was not in the starting XI or on the bench for their 4-1 loss.

The 28-year-old did post an image on social media of himself in Jamaica gear on Thursday ahead of the USA defeat, however, and it remains to be seen when/if he will be back at Middlewood Road.

Owls manager, Moore, will no doubt have been keeping a close eye on proceedings as he sought to run the rule over the several first teamers as well as some of the promising youngsters, however it’s unlikely that any of them covered themselves in any glory this time around.

Next up for Wednesday is a visit from Hull City on April 6th as they look to try and return to winning ways against a side that just a few years ago they beat 3-1 to win the Professional Development League Two Play-Off Final.

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As for the first team, they will continue to be put through their paces by Moore and his technical team in build-up to next Friday’s encounter with Watford, where they’ll be hoping to put a dent in their opponent’s title challenge while also giving themselves a better chance of retaining their own Championship status at Vicarage Road.

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