Why Sheffield Wednesday's Covid-19 bombshell has come at a bad time for the likes of Izzy Brown, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Matt Penney

The doors to Sheffield Wednesday’s Middlewood Road training ground remain locked after a coronavirus outbreak was revealed earlier this week.
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Players and staff were tested yesterday and the results are yet to arrive, leaving this weekend’s FA Cup third round tie at Exeter City in question. FA rules dictate that if a club is able to field 14 players then participation in the fixture must go ahead.

Should the match go ahead, many of the Wednesday fringe players are expected to take part.

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But the week has been a blow to many regardless, with a rare opportunity to impress the club’s coaching staff having been and gone.

The manic 2020/21 fixtures schedule has thrown up few chances for managers to have much training time with their squad, a reality bemoaned by former managers Garry Monk and Tony Pulis.

And with that comes a lack of opportunity for players to train their way into the first team line-up.

The likes of Izzy Brown, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Matt Penney have found playing time limited in recent weeks and speaking after his second win as Owls caretaker boss, Neil Thompson said that while a week’s rest ahead of Exeter would be beneficial to some players, a week on the training ground would have been a boost to those more on the periphery.

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“Some players have niggles, one or two, that’s for sure,” he said. “It gives them chance to have some good recovery time, chance to get them on the pitch.

Sheffield Wednesday youngster Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is on the periphery at Hillsborough.Sheffield Wednesday youngster Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is on the periphery at Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday youngster Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is on the periphery at Hillsborough.

“But it also gives the lads that have been on the bench, who have not had a lot of football, it gives them the chance to get some football into them on the training ground.

“Because of all the games, your training programme goes out of the window a little bit, you can’t train them with the intensity you might want because you don’t want to deplete their energy.

“Hopefully next week we can get a really good week’s training in them.”

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That week on the training ground has all but been and gone and players have been training from home. Should the clash go ahead, many of those players should at least get an opportunity to impress despite the difficult circumstances.

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