A host of Sheffield Wednesday youngsters stepped up into the Owls’ U21s on Monday as their season came to an end in the Professional Development League.

Andy Holdsworth’s side played out a 1-1 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road in a pretty much carbon copy of the first team’s weekend over in Hertfordshire, with Joe Emery getting the goal to level things up as they went on to secure a fifth-place finish.

Emery, who has been offered his first professional contract at Hillsborough, was one of a number of players who played above their age group against the Hornets, with Kailen Hatfield also coming up from the U18s while Will Grainger - who got his first start at this level - and Yisa Alao came up from the U18s and U16s respectively.

Sheffield Wednesday academy update

There were also two trialists who featured for Wednesday, and while the one who was given a starting berth is yet to be revealed, it’s thought that the second half substitute - who replaced Devlan Moses - was midfielder, Denny Oliver, who has been on trial for some time now from Lincoln City. It seems increasingly likely at this stage that he may have done enough to earn himself a deal at S6.

The U21s’ final game came just a couple of days after Andy Sharp’s U18s put Brentford away with a 3-1 victory at Hillsborough in a game that saw them go 13 games unbeaten thanks to Grainger, Aodhan Sopala and an own goal. They now turn their attentions to PDL South winners, Bristol City, as they look to try and book their spot in the play-off final later this month.

Like with the first team, the academy retained list is due out in the near future, however the youth players have already been informed whether or not they’ll still be at Middlewood Road next season.

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