Surprise Sheffield Wednesday absences explained as ‘99%’ fit Owls take on Hull City

Ihiekwe and Famewo both started the opening game of the Championship season at the heart of Wednesday’s defence v Southampton earlier this month, but were left out of the squad completely for the penalty shootout victory over Stockport County this week.

Any concerns over injuries for the pair have been quashed by the Owls boss though, who stated in Thursday’s press conference that they were both available for the trip to Hull City this weekend should they be selected.

Speaking to the media, Xisco said, “Michael is ok, he had a very good performance against Southampton and had a little bit of tired muscles - sometimes you need rest. We also had Bambo and Di’Shon ready to play this game and this is one of the things that’s perfect for a coach when you have 99% of the squad ready...

“Akin is ok, too, like Mike. After Southampton he was a little bit tired after we communicated we decided not to play another day - but he’s been in training very good and he’s ready if I decide to play him against Hull.”

Liam Palmer and George Byers, who were both on the bench but didn’t feature on Tuesday, are also avaiable, while there are question marks over Mallik Wilks who has ‘some problems, but we’ll see if he arrives (for Hull) or not’. Ciaran Brennan, who hasn’t played since the preseason camp in Spain, is the only other known injury at this point.

Michael Smith, meanwhile, is looking likely to feature by the sounds of it after he missed out against Stockport due to illness, with the Owls boss saying, “Mike is coming back today, he’s very good and it was a hard training from him - we’ll see tomorrow if he’s 100% for the game. 99% he’s ready to play.” He’s been linked with Derby County, but the Owls rejected a recent loan bid.

Wednesday face the Tigers at 3pm on Saturday afternoon in their first away game of the campaign.