Owls manager Henrik Pedersen said he was ‘proud’ of returning defender Di’Shon Bernard.

The defender made his first competitive appearance for the first-team in 19 months after a knee injury, surgery and setbacks. The fan favourite played an hour in a 2-1 win against Salford City in the EFL Trophy. His name was sung throughout by supporters and he led the post-match celebrations.

The centre-half last played for Wednesday’s first-team in February 2025 against West Brom in the Championship. He got 45 minutes under his belt in an under-21s match against Charlton Athletic earlier this month so this was the next milestone in his return to full fitness.

Pedersen said: “I'm just proud of him. He has been through so much but he has kept on fighting. There has been setback, but he has used the setback to grow, and he has grown so much as a person. He has grown so much and to come and play a game like this today, I think it is the biggest respect we have to give him because I think he played with confidence, he played with a trust in his body, and it's not always easy after injury. So I think it was a strong performance.”

Bernard was replaced after 60 minutes by Gabriel Otegbayo in Wednesday’s 2-1 comeback win. The plan is now for Bernard to play in a friendly match that they are trying to organise during the international break. Should everything go smoothly, the 25-year-old could feature again in two weeks when Wednesday host Sunderland under-21 in the same competition.

The lacklustre Owls were behind at the break on Tuesday night but a header from Davis Keillor-Dunn and a penalty from Jamal Lowe secured a comeback victory in their first EFL Trophy group game of the campaign.