The tough moments keep coming for Moses Odubajo at Sheffield Wednesday

An otherwise promising display in an alien position will offer little consolation to Sheffield Wednesday defender Moses Odubajo after he gave away his fourth penalty of the season in their defeat to West Brom.
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The wing-back, pushed inside as one of three centre-halves due to the absence of injured pair Tom Lees and Osaze Urhoghide, faced up well against superstar Brazilian Matheus Pereira for much of the first half but once again allowed himself to get the wrong side of an opposition attacker when Dara O’Shea burst through on goal after 38 minutes.

Charlie Austin’s resultant penalty changed the course of the game as the title-chasing Baggies took control. The error, which was only awarded after referee David Webb consulted with assistant Matthew McGrath, was unerringly similar to penalties given away by Odubajo in matches against Preston and Derby – a match that later saw him sent off – earlier in the campaign.

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The 26-year-old, who has spoken candidly about his desire to get his career back on track at Hillsborough, completed 80 per cent of his passes, produced two successful take-ons and created one half-chance for his side, and despite an otherwise diligent display, question marks remain over his defensive capability in key moments.

Asked about Odubajo’s overall performance, Owls boss Garry Monk told The Star: “There were a lot of good things, there was just that one situation where it was a penalty and a goal.

“Of course in those situation we can do a lot better but I think overall the contribution from Mo and in those situations in the first half, they were good.”

Asked whether he can do better, Monk said: “Of course he can, but then there are a lot of good things that Mo did and that the team did.

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“You have those moments and we have to do better with them, Mo knows that, but I don’t think you can pin the blame on one player.

Moses Odubajo has spoken of his desire to turn things around at Sheffield Wednesday.Moses Odubajo has spoken of his desire to turn things around at Sheffield Wednesday.
Moses Odubajo has spoken of his desire to turn things around at Sheffield Wednesday.

“The first half was our opportunity to get a foothold in the game and had we done that we wouldn’t have had to expose ourselves as early as we had to.”

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