'Interesting' Sheffield Wednesday defender Mackenzie Maltby continues his Owls comeback

The 21-year-old, who has captained the Owls at various youth levels, had to undergo surgery over the summer that meant he faced a period on the sidelines, but he’s been making good progress in recent weeks and is now on the brink of being fully fit once again.

Maltby has impressed at centre back both at Middlewood Road and out on loan with Scarborough Athletic, with Henrik Pedersen referring to him as an ‘interesting’ player when questioned on his fitness a couple of months ago. The Wednesday academy graduate has featured in first-team training this year as he built up his fitness, and is now back out on the field of play again.

Mackenzie Maltby is back playing again

The defender started for the U21s in the 2-1 defeat to Coventry City earlier this month, and today was handed another place in the XI at North Ferriby’s Versa Sportswear Stadium where the youngsters took on their counterparts at Hull City. It was another chance for Maltby to try and show that he’s ready to take the step up if required, and he completed 73 minutes before being replaced by Perry Ridge.

Wednesday secured a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Jarvis Thornton and Bruno Fernandes, but it looks to have come at a cost after Junior Kamwa had to be taken off after just 22 minutes due to injury. He and Denny Oliver both featured despite recently being loaned out to Brighouse Town, with the understanding being that they will split their time between the two. Brighouse will be eager to find out how long Kamwa will be out, and whether he’ll now be able to complete any part of his loan.

The U21s are back in action this weekend as they play host to Huddersfield Town on Friday evening, and with the Steel City derby on Sunday it’ll be interesting to see who features. For Maltby, he’ll have eyes on a first 90 minutes since his return, and after that the aim will be a first team appearance before the season is out.