Sheffield Wednesday should be braced for brutal battle with Shrewsbury Town's point-to-prove former Owl

And that’s certainly the case with former Sheffield Wednesday defender Chey Dunkley, who takes pride in what he is; a powerful, no nonsense centre-half who relishes the moment any football is kicked in the air.

A soft touch on the ball and an ability to spray 40-yard passes to a forward’s instep? Not quite, though that doesn’t matter. Dunkley is one of the more effective defenders in League One.

A rapidly revolving door of injuries cost the 30-year-old a clear run at a career at Wednesday, which came to an end when he was released in the summer. The former Wigan man makes a return to Hillsborough in the colours of Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

But those injury issues seem to have been put behind him and outside of Papa Johns Trophy football he has played every minute of the Shrews’ campaign.

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A set-piece match-up between Dunkley and Ben Heneghan – effectively the Wednesday replacement for Dunkley in terms of playing style in defence – would have been something to behold considering the form of the pair.

But with Heneghan sidelined, it may well fall to others to take on the aerial battle.

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Much of the Owls’ summer transfer business centred around increasing the physical threat the dressing room offered and in terms of percentage success Wednesday have two of the division’s four most aerially-dominant players; with fourth-placed Mark McGuinness winning 73.91% of his aerial duels and Dominic Iorfa second with 76.09%.

Along with the likes of Matt Pennington, Tom Flanagan and Ryan Bowman, Dunkley’s is a threat of which Wednesday will be wary.