Reason behind Callum Paterson's shock Sheffield Wednesday absence revealed
Callum Paterson was a surprise omission from Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-1 Championship draw with Preston North End on Saturday.
The burly Scot, who came off the bench to provide the assist for Jamal Lowe’s last-gasp winner at Derby County the previous weekend, sat out of the squad entirely for the first time since October. Owls boss Danny Röhl explained his absence was down to an injury picked up in the week. Though he stopped well short of a timescale for any comeback, he made clear the issue was not a major one - though further assessments are set to take place as the injury settles.
“Pato had an injury, a knee injury in training,” Röhl told The Star. “Let's see, at first it looks not so good but also not so bad. He needs a bit of recovery time, we will see now when he is back. We know this with the schedule, in one week even if it is a small injury a player can miss three games. All the other guys are so far OK.”
The draw with Preston was a gnarled tug of war played in difficult weather conditions. Preston had the better of the game and though results elsewhere allowed Wednesday to go ninth in the table, Röhl spoke candidly about his dissatisfaction with the performance of his side - and questioned his players’ approach to matches that are are tighter, nigglier affairs.
Asked whether the match could have been the sort of afternoon in which Paterson could have made an impact, Röhl said: “It could have been. We could have brought a second target player in front who can fight. We wanted Smudge to work alongside Jamal like how it worked against Derby. For my taste I had to make too many changes today.”