'Wasn't close' - Di'Shon Bernard's Sheffield Wednesday absence explained after being spotted at Middlesbrough

The 23-year-old was named in Wednesday's starting XI against Swansea City last Friday, but had to sit out the game due to a muscle injury that he sustained in the warm-up, and Danny Röhl admitted that he was then a doubt for the game against Boro a couple of days later.

Bernard was seen getting off the bus in Teesside having made the trip to North Yorkshire with the side, but the Owls boss has explained that he wasn't present with any intention of playing - merely to receive the treatment required in order to continue his recovery.

“He wasn’t close,” Röhl explained. “With his treatments, especially when you have a game every three days and all the physios are here with us, he had to travel with us to get them. He’ll hopefully be available soon, but even when he’s available again he needs rhythm - everybody needs rhythm. Hopefully he’ll come back, but at the moment it’s difficult to say.

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"It’s Monday, we have five days to go, and it could be enough. It’s hard to take, but it’s been setbacks, setbacks, setbacks since I arrived. We need to go again.”

Wednesday face Queens Park Rangers in a huge game at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon as they're handed another potential opportunity to climb out of the Championship relegation zone.