‘That’s horrific’ – Sheffield Wednesday star’s honest take with Owls seeking strong finish

It’s now been almost exactly five months since ‘Icky’ suffered a knee injury against Mansfield Town that ruled him out for a huge chunk of the 2022/23 campaign, and he looked good in his return to action on Saturday as he helped the Owls to a win over Exeter City.

The 30-year-old played 42 league games in both of the last two seasons, and after being limited to just 19 so far he’s looking to make up for lost time. He says that watching his teammates train and not be involved was ‘horrific’.

“It felt brilliant,” Ihiekwe told the club’s official website. “It’s been a long time and it’s nice to be back around the place and with the lads and getting back on the pitch was amazing.

“It’s a hard feeling to put into words, I haven’t missed too many games in my career but it’s been a long time. It’s something I’ve been waiting for over the last five months and it felt brilliant.

“I was on the bench against Burton and I got some minutes in the U21s, but to get back to Hillsborough, you take it for granted sometimes… I felt good getting back into the swing of things, when you’ve missed something for so long you enjoy it that bit more when you come back.

“Being around the lads is another thing you take for granted, you see them when you’re injured but you’re watching them training and that’s horrific. It’s been lovely to be back.

“We’ve got so much to play for still and we want to finish the season as strong as we can, we’ll get our heads down and work as hard as possible.“

Wednesday have two League One games left to play before the regular season comes to an end, after which they’ll need three big performances in the play-offs if they’re to realise their goal of climbing out of the division and back into the Championship in time for the 2023/24 season.

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