Jaden Heskey made just his second League One start of the season as Sheffield Wednesday beat AFC Wimbledon 5-0 on Saturday.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has said Jaden Heskey deserved his place in the starting XI for Saturday’s 5-0 win over AFC Wimbledon after working his way back to full fitness in recent weeks.

After spending the second half of last season on loan at Hillsborough, the Manchester City midfielder returned to South Yorkshire on transfer deadline day, joining the Owls on a season-long loan deal to strengthen their midfield options.

Despite starting the Owls’ 2-1 win over Peterborough United last month and their respective victories over Salford City and Sunderland Under-21s in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy, Heskey has struggled to force his way into Pedersen’s first-choice starting XI, with fellow summer signings Barry Bannan and Billy Mitchell occupying the two midfield berths.

However, after making a positive impact in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Huddersfield Town at the Accu Stadium last weekend, Heskey was selected ahead of Mitchell against Wimbledon and produced an assured performance in the engine room. Having returned to Hillsborough towards the end of the transfer window, Heskey has been playing catch-up with his fitness and has therefore needed time to get up to speed.

“I have tried to give him as much game practice as possible because, when he came here, he was a little bit rusty,” Pedersen told The Star. “How he has grown through all the cup games has been really, really good, and it has given him a lot of game minutes.

Jaden Heskey has had to bide his time since returning to Sheffield Wednesday. | Steve Ellis

placeholder image — Jaden Heskey has had to bide his time since returning to Sheffield Wednesday. | Steve Ellis

“He's much fitter now and I think he really deserved a place in the starting XI. We saw when he came on at Huddersfield that he was a big strength for us in the pressing, but also on the ball he did it well.

“I think he was one of our best players today.”

With Heskey, Bannan and Mitchell competing for two places in Pedersen’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, the trio present the Dane with a welcome selection headache. It will therefore be interesting to see whether the Owls boss makes any changes to his midfield against Notts County on Tuesday evening.

Bannan was replaced by Mitchell after 61 minutes against Wimbledon, in what Pedersen confirmed after the match was a pre-planned change.

Pedersen added: “It was planned before the game that Barry should play around 60 minutes and then Billy should come in. I also had in mind the same plan for Jamal [Lowe] and then Ali [Al-Hamadi].”