Henrik Pedersen says Di’Shon Bernard has not suffered a fresh injury and will be involved in an ‘internal’ game later this week.

The defender, who had been out injured for 19 months with a knee problem, made his return against Salford City two weeks ago, playing 60 minutes in the EFL Trophy. He was expected to feature again on Tuesday night in the same competition against Sunderland under-21s but was not in the matchday squad for the 2-0 win. On Bernard, Pedersen told The Star: “He is okay. We have an internal game on Thursday. It was too early for him to play tonight. No injury.”

Another player who fans would have expected to start was Ernie Weaver - just as he did against Salford - but like Bernard he too was not involved at all. “He was also planned to play today, but he got just a little thing in his hamstring,” Pedersen said. “I think he can train later in the week, so not something. But we wouldn't make any risk tonight.”

Meanwhile, Max Lowe is making progress on his return from injury. The left-back suffered a hamstring problem in training and has missed the last five matches. “Hopefully next week he will be in the team training, maybe in the end of the week,” Pedersen said.

Continuing with injuries, on-loan Ipswich Town forward, Ali Al-Hamadi, pulled out of international duty with Iraq due to an ankle issue. Pedersen explained: “He's training all what he can. He has also trained today.”

However, summer signing Jordi Liongola, who has not played since the opening day of the season, is still some weeks away from returning. Pedersen added: “I still think two, three weeks before he can be a part of the training.”

Wednesday booked their place in the knockout rounds of the EFL Trophy with victory over Sunderland thanks to goals in each half from Jaden Heskey and Barry Bannan.