What Garry Monk said about the fitness of Fernando Forestieri and Liam Palmer ahead of QPR FA Cup clash

The senior pair are yet to kick a football since the turn of the year and the temptation may be there for Monk to make changes to the side that crashed to a 5-0 defeat at home to Blackburn on Saturday.

But there will be no rush to include either of them in the side, the Owls boss said, and the duo will be assessed ahead of the match.

On the fitness of his squad Monk said: “We’re in the same position as the last game.

“Liam Palmer has been out on the pitches this week, so we’ll assess him.

“We’ve got two games coming up, we’ve got Tuesday as well, but he’s been out all week.

“We’ll obviously have to assess him fitness-wise and ensuring there’s no reaction to anything. But he’s progressing really well.

“Fernando is the same, he’s been back out on the pitches all week and training all week.

“We’ll decide, with there being an under-23 game on Friday as well, whether he need minutes there to build his fitness up because he’s missed quite a bit of it.”

Forestieri has been out of action since the Owls’ win at Charlton Athletic at the end of November when he was hauled off at half-time with a knee injury.

Palmer has missed out since suffering an ankle injury in the defeat to Cardiff on December 29.