The simple reason Marvin Johnson was absent from Sheffield Wednesday’s squad for Shrewsbury Town win

The decision ended a 43-match run of matchday involvement in league football for the 31-year-old, who last sat out of a home draw with Wycombe Wanderers nearly a year ago while recovering from an injury.

And there was no such issue this time around, Owls boss Darren Moore confirmed, with Johnson left out simply as part of a continued squad rotation system.

Young Nottingham Forest loanee Alex Mighten has stepped into the breach at left wing-back in the last two outings and has impressed.

“It’s simple,” Moore said. “We’ve got different players in each position and they’re all competing – and that’s what we want. It’s excellent.

“We’ve got a much smaller squad this year, but there’s more versatility to it and there are more players challenging one another. The quicker we can get them all back fit – we’ve still got four or five on the treatment table – the more that will be the case.

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“There’s a lot of rotation there – probably 18 or 19 we’ve got.

“Marvin has played a lot of football and this is obviously the first time he’s not starting but this is us rotating. He could be back in next week and that’s just the way it is.”

Johnson wasn’t the only senior player to miss out as Jack Hunt continued his stint out of the side. Young Rio Shipston featured on the bench for the first time in league football.

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