Sheffield Wednesday receive big injury boost - but Owls boss makes Mallik Wilks admission

The Owls defender has made a big impact during his loan spell from Blackpool this season, playing at both left centre back and left wingback, but has had a difficult time of late as he battled back from an injury that he sustained away at Wycombe Wanderers.

James did return to action last month after making his recovery, but there were fears amongst the fanbase as he missed out on the matchday squad that travelled to Charlton Athletic – Darren Moore went some way to allaying those fears by insisting that it was just a bit of ‘soreness’, suggesting that he’d be back available to face the Posh a week later.

Now, with Wednesday seeking to extend their lead at the top of the table, the Owls boss has confirmed that they are expecting him back.

Speaking to the media, Moore said, “Reece James has trained again today, so he’s fit enough. It’s good to have him back… He was in tremendous form, so it’s nice to to have him back with his versatility - we just thoguht the game at Charlton came a little bit too soon.

“He’s been back in training though, and we hope to have him as part of the squad tomorrow. So it’s pleasing to have him back, and the form that he showed before was exceptional really.”

There wasn’t such good news with regards to Mallik Wilks, though, with no return date seemingly set for the attacker as he deals with a calf injury that has been bothering him for a while now.

When asked about the former Hull City man, the Wednesday manager said, “We’re still making sure that the muscle injury he sustained is properly healed before we start the process of really rehabbing him. We’re giving him every opportunity to make sure that’s healed.

“We know he's a really explosive player, a multidirectional one, so we have to make sure that it's really healed before we start the work on him. He's still in that process.

“I don’t want to give a specific time, because of the type of injury that it is… Until it’s healed it’s difficult for me to ascertain a time that he’ll come back.”

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