Plans earmarked for Sheffield Wednesday youngsters as big decisions loom for their future

Moore has been very hands-on with the young players at Middlewood Road since his arrival, with a number of the U21s and U18s spending time training with the senior squad as part of their continued development.

But there may well be a turnover again this summer as decisions are made on who will and won’t stay a part of things at S6, and while the Wednesday boss says that he does want to let them know early if they’ll be leaving – the time has not come just yet.

He went on to praise the work done by academy chief, Steve Haslam, and issued a word of warning to the likes of Rio Shipston, Sean Fusire, Bailey Cadamarteri and others that a tough summer is on the cards.

“We’re not at that stage yet. There’s been significant steps with the youngsters in terms of bridging the gap with the seniors,” Moore told The Star when asked about decisions being made. “We’ve had reduced numbers in the first team, so it’s given some of the youngsters the opportunity to step up and train with us regularly. It also means we’ve been able to take a closer look at them as first team staff.

“The significant strides have been made in the academy with the young players, and the structure of it… Those strides need to be continued, and there are three or four of them who we’re looking for them to come back in preseason and be part of the first team numbers.

“The progression towards the end of this season is integrating them in, but come the summer they’ve got to be ready to partake in a really physical preseason with the first team and start games where we can look at them against tough opposition.

“You start making decisions after that - about whether they go out on loan, whether staying in the building, or even whether they’re starters.

“These sort of things will be spoken about in the next technical board meeting.”

Wednesday’s U21s take on Sheffield United this afternoon, with a few first team players set to take part.

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