Sheffield Wednesday boss makes formation admission as Davis Keillor-Dunn creates attacking dilemma
Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen has an attacking dilemma to try and solve ahead of the clash with Wigan Athletic at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has said he wants to use a formation that can accommodate as many strikers as possible following the addition of Davis Keillor-Dunn on loan from Wrexham.
The 28-year-old joined the Owls on loan until January just over a week ago and was thrown straight into the starting line-up for last Saturday’s 2-1 triumph over Peterborough United at the Weston Homes Stadium, tasked with spearheading Wednesday’s attack.
Wednesday rebuilt their attacking department over the summer, of course, bringing in both strikers and wingers, and several of those new faces arrived at Hillsborough with versatile profiles.
Keillor-Dunn is one of them, of course, having demonstrated throughout his career that he can play in several different roles. Wednesday switched to a front two midway through the second half against Posh last time out after introducing Mason Burstow and Ali Al-Hamadi from the bench, and they looked better for the changes.
Asked by The Star if he has identified a preferred position for Keillor-Dunn, Pedersen said the former Barnsley man can play in up to four different roles, admitting that he wants to find a way to get more of his attackers onto the pitch.
“He can play four, and, of course, I have conversations with each of them about where they are now, where I see the next step for them and which position I see them [playing in],” Pedersen said.
“We try to have a formation where we can bring more strikers because we have a lot of them. But, of course, we have spoken about this.”
Having had barely any time to train with his new teammates ahead of the win over Peterborough, Keillor-Dunn was substituted after 58 minutes. However, now that he has had a full week to prepare for the visit of Wigan Athletic this afternoon, Pedersen is hoping Wednesdayites will start to see even more from the former Barnsley man.
The Owls boss continued: “I've just had a meeting with him where I said, ‘Wow, you've grown now.’ I put him in after one session, and this week he has trained really well. You can see he's come more and more into the way we want to do things.
“He has made some good steps this week, and he will be a very, very valuable player for us in the next months.”
Addressing the selection dilemma he now faces following the impact Burstow and Al-Hamadi made from the bench last weekend, Pedersen added: “They were really strong when they came in, and this week they have been really hungry.
“But generally, we have a squad that is very, very hungry. You can feel this hungry mentality, this very concentrated mentality, together with a powerful energy.”