Shock Aden Flint and Akin Famewo call an example of Darren Moore 'learning' as Sheffield Wednesday follow the science

In-form pair Aden Flint and Akin Famewo were pushed to the bench for the clash after a manic 17 days saw both players play four times after long periods on the sidelines.

Wednesday's promotion campaign was battered by wave after wave of injury last time out and led in part by scientific data procured by the club’s medical staff and partly by a desire to have full-backs Liam Palmer and Reece James play comfortably on the ball, both were rested.

“We look at the data and we’re all aligned in terms of the data,” Moore said on what is a group effort behind the scenes following a so-called ‘investigation’ into a questionable injury record at Wednesday in recent years. “We knew today they weren’t going to play.

“I spoke to both players and they were both desperate to play, but sometimes as a manager you have to make those decisions because if you leave it to the player, they’ll want to play every minute.

“What we don’t want to do is see them on the sideline. Had they started today and broken down by overuse or fatigue I would never have forgiven myself.

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“It’s probably me as a manager learning from those experiences from the first season here.”

Flint hadn’t played for Stoke in 118 days prior to his run of four matches in 17 days with Wednesday. Similarly, Famewo hadn’t played in 179 days and had surgery prior to injury on debut back in August.

Moore said: “Both players have played four games in two weeks; Aden coming from Stoke had been stood still for the first half of the season and had played a number of games in quick succession, he was always going to come out.

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“Akin was similar, he’d come back from his operation after four or five months out and had played in quick succession.

“Both of them were rested today and I felt it was right for Palms and Reece James to come in and get 90 minutes. To have that versatility back in the backline was pleasing today.”