Two Sheffield Wednesday first teamers play part in important day for injury journey – possible loanee stars

Owls first team manager Darren Moore made clear Akin Famewo would this week make his long-awaited return from a stint on the sidelines going back over 100 days since he hobbled off on debut at MK Dons.

But the former Norwich City man was named as a starter in the DW Stadium reversal alongside fellow senior Jaden Brown, who got some much-needed minutes under his belt and struck the woodwork in the first half.

It is hoped Famewo will be able to re-join the battle for first team minutes next month as Wednesday continue to ramp up his workload both in training and with the under-21s.

Wednesday named five trialists in the matchday squad in a side that was weakened by the fact the under-18 side played and beat their Derby County counterparts in the FA Youth Cup on Monday evening.

On the recovery of Famewo, Moore said last week: “We’ve got to give him the time. He’s had 10 days, I’d probably like to give him more like 21 days to have the games and training. Your body gets used to accelerating and decelerating, the volume you get in training.

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“His body is getting used to the football movement and recovery. That’s the process he’s in at the moment. He’s fit, but we need to get him match fit.”

One player who was hugely involved despite conceding two – scored by Latics pair Chris Sze and Kieran Lloyd – was goalkeeper Luke Jackson, who made a number of handy saves.

Under-21s boss Neil Thompson recently admitted the club were looking at sending the 20-year-old out on loan.

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He said: “With Luke being the oldest one, I think the ideal scenario for him moving forward is going out and getting that loan experience - but that takes a bit of time to do and somebody has to come in and say they’ll take him.

“For us it’s nice to have three goalkeepers at a good level… Who’s going to be the best? That’s up to them. They’re all good lads who work hard. The goalkeeping department looks really healthy.”