Why Svante Ingelsson was substituted in Sheffield Wednesday stalemate vs Coventry City
Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen has revealed Svante Ingelsson had “not trained much” prior to Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Coventry City at the Coventry Building Society Arena, citing a knee issue as the reason.
The Swede, who is a leading contender for Wednesday’s Player of the Season award, started in midfield alongside Nathaniel Chalobah and Jaden Heskey in the West Midlands and played a key role in helping the Owls earn a share of the spoils.
Typically energetic and full of running power, the former Hansa Rostock man competed for everything in the middle and assisted with Wednesday’s transitional play when they tried to hit their hosts on the counter-attack. He also made a terrific goal-line clearance with his head in the first half.
However, uncharacteristically, he was substituted after 61 minutes, being replaced by Olaf Kobacki, meaning a slight change in Wednesday’s approach for the final half hour or so.
Ingelsson had been wrongly booked in the first half, considered guilty of allegedly catching Coventry striker Haji Wright, but it was clear he had made no contact with the former Antalyaspor man.
However, Pedersen revealed post-match that his first half caution was not the reason behind his earliest withdrawal of the season.
“You could see Svante had a challenge with his knee from the beginning of the game,” Pedersen told The Star. “But Svante is so important for us.
“He has not trained much since the last game, but him and Nate [Nathaniel Chalobah] were strong for us today.”
Chalobah, too, was unable to complete the full 90 minutes, storing a respectable 70 minutes under his belt after making a second successive start for the Owls for the first time in over a year. He was replaced by Marvelous Nakamba.
Pedersen added: “I took Marvelous because I knew we should change Svante. I also know we should change Nate.
“So we should have two No.6s on the pitch, and Jarvis [Thornton] and Marv, so I could have one less to the front three position.”