Fitness plans for Sheffield Wednesday youngsters outlined as pre-season return date revealed
Sheffield Wednesday’s youngsters have been given individual fitness plans to ensure they are in the best possible shape for next season.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has revealed the club’s young players have been given strict individual fitness programmes to follow ahead of reporting back for pre-season next month.
After the Owls’ first-team squad was butchered last summer, leaving Pedersen light on senior options, the Dane was left with no choice but to promote countless youngsters ahead of schedule this season.
The likes of Sean Fusire, Gabriel Otegbayo and Jarvis Thornton were among those to take full advantage while the likes of Ernie Weaver and George Brown showed plenty of promise before injuries scuppered their hopes of cementing their places in Pedersen’s plans.
Although Wednesday, who will enter a new era next season under the stewardship of Arise Capital Partners after a torrid past 12 months, need to bring in plenty of new faces this summer, there is still expected to be roles to play for members of the current squad, not least some of the youngsters who showed flashes of promise throughout the 2025/26 campaign.
The likes of Weaver and Brown, for example, earned plenty of credit for their early-season performances, especially the former, who looked calm and composed throughout his four Championship starts prior to suffering a season-ending foot injury.
With the EFL Trophy adding a minimum of three more games to Wednesday’s schedule next season straight away, Pedersen wants his players to be as fit as possible, admitting fitness levels need to “reach a new level at Hillsborough”. Pedersen has also confirmed his players will start to return to S6 for pre-season on June 26.
“I had a meeting four weeks ago with all the young guys, under-22 and below, I think, and that was a lot,” Pedersen, speaking after the Owls’ 2-0 defeat to Ipswich Town back in March, revealed to The Star.
“We spoke about how we want to use the last 13 games or something because you really have a chance to grow from now to the end of the season, and show that you'll be a part of our squad next season.
“And now, when we come after the Hull game, I think that all the young players will have physical tests for sprint, for VO₂ max (maximal oxygen consumption), for all the basics, for strength, for everything. Then they'll have individual plans, all with the perspective of how fit they can be when they come back on June 26.
“Then we'll make new tests before they go on holiday, or shortly after they go on holiday, and then they'll get new tests again in the middle of the holiday.
“We need fit young guys. We need to reach a new level of fitness in our club. We have to be much tougher.”