'Brilliant' - Gabriel Otegbayo hailed by Sheffield Wednesday teammate after cameo vs Wigan
Gabriel Otegbayo was introduced from the bench during the second half of Sheffield Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic.
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Joe Lumley saluted teammate Gabriel Otegbayo after he produced a fantastic last-ditch block to help his team earn a point during Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic at Hillsborough.
Otegbayo was one of three players to drop out of the starting XI from last weekend’s 2-1 win over Peterborough United at the Weston Homes Stadium, but he was introduced with 74 minutes on the clock, coming off the bench to replace Ricardo Santos.
Wednesday had done their fair share of defending prior to Otegbayo’s introduction, with Wigan performing a lot better than their league table position suggested. The Republic of Ireland youth international had to contribute to the defensive effort as the minutes ticked away, producing a fantastic block late on to help Wednesday earn a point.
Despite only being on the pitch for 16 minutes, the defender played an important role in helping Wednesday keep their first League One clean sheet of the season, producing two clearances, making one interception, blocking one shot, winning one tackle and winning all five of his duels.
Lumley told the Owls’ YouTube channel: “Everyone wants to start the game. The lads that came on, as you mentioned there, Gab, he came on and that tackle at the end, for me, it’s just as good as someone scoring a goal.
“I thought he was brilliant when he came on. I thought he did everything that he could have done. His defending was brilliant, likewise with Palms (Liam Palmer).
“Then the other lads that came on put a shift in to keep the clean sheet. As I said, we want to create more and we want to win games at home.”
Although Wednesday were disappointed not to extend their winning run to four matches, Lumley was pleased to register his first clean sheet of the campaign in the league.
“It’s good to get a clean sheet,” added the goalkeeper. “It’s not just me; it’s the whole team. Liam (Cooper), Rico (Santos), Gab when he came on, Palms when he came on, Yan (Valery), Reece (James), the back four, and the lads that came on were brilliant.
“Everyone in front of them gets that clean sheet. It’s not just me. I had a few saves to make in the game. I felt I’d done my job well today. As I said, we move on to the next one.”