Sheffield Wednesday will look at positional swap for forward player again
SWFC are out of the Carabao Cup after defeat to Wolves
Will Grainger might get another opportunity on the left wing for Sheffield Wednesday this season.
The 17-year-old played as a wide forward in the 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Carabao Cup second round at Hillsborough on Tuesday night. A Sil Swinkels own goal and a header from Saheed Olagunju on his senior debut did the damage in the first-half.
The two defensive errors cost The Owls and they were unable to create any clear-cut chances down the other end. They were mostly restricted to long-range efforts, including one from Grainger which curled just over in the first 45.
Grainger signed a new three-year contract in the summer. The Welsh youth international scored his first senior goal against Oxford United at the end of last season.
When the team-sheets were handed in it looked like Grainger would play in the 10 and Harry Gray would occupy the left flank but that was not the case. Although he is used to playing centrally, featuring out wide might get him more minutes.
“I want to look at that one again,” Henrik Pedersen told The Star. “I think he can play the central 10. He could also play the left-hand side. In the centre of the pitch right now, it is tough for him, so that's why I put him in the left side, and I think it was okay today.”
Grainger had some bright moments going forward, including his long-range effort, while he was tested defensively with a lot of Wolves’ attacks down their right in the first-half, which will have been a learning curve and part of his development.
Pedersen said: “We had some really good high pressing from goal kicks, high pressing when the goalkeeper had the ball, and then we made some corrections in the medium press because they always broke the line with Will because he was too high, and Reece was too deep, so we had to get the balance in left side. We also started to jump more in the midfield.”