Sheffield Wednesday star Louie Barry is waiting to hear how long he’ll be out through injury.

A concerning injury suffered by Sheffield Wednesday attacker Louie Barry would likely not have occurred had the perimeter of the pitch at Wycombe Wanderers been made-up differently, Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen said.

Barry netted his third goal in Owls colours following his switch from Aston Villa in July in a moment that swung the match in Wednesday’s favour following Cauley Woodrow’s early opener. Jamal Lowe’s penalty on the stroke of half-time ultimately earned Wednesday three valuable away points but it came with Barry off the field after he was forced off after just 16 minutes.

The 23-year-old had to be helped around the pitch by two medical staff and left the ground on crutches and wearing a protective boot. In a freak occurrence, replays suggested he had turned his ankle on an artificial surface set down just a couple of inches from the touchline at Adams Park. Barry will undertake scans to ascertain the seriousness of his injury.

“If there was no artificial there, then I'm sure it would not have happened,” Owls boss Henrik Pedersen told The Star with a stern face when asked of his view on the proximity of the artificial surface, which is in place to protect the grounding on which referee’s assistants run up and down the touchline. “I think there will be a scan tomorrow morning. I don't know which scan, but there will be a scan and we'll see. We all hope the best.”

EFL stadiums are of course regularly checked for compliance with safety protocol and there is no suggestion that the pitch surroundings at Adams Park breach any authority ruling.

Ruling 1.7 of the FA’s Stadium Accreditation Criteria for the FA National League System lays out the requirements on pitch perimeters including the stipulation that ‘artificial turf’ can be utilised in the immediate run-off to the touchline as long as it is ‘professionally laid without trip hazards’ and that the turf is ‘continuous’ along the entire touchline. The set-up at Wycombe appeared to satisfy these requirements.

The ruling reads: ‘There must be a minimum of 1.83 metres between the touchline, goal line and the pitch perimeter barrier. This run-off must be of the same material as the playing surface – i.e. grass or artificial turf – save for where artificial turf has been professionally laid without trip hazards, as part of the run-off for example: as per an assistant referees running area.

‘Where an assistant referee’s running area is artificial turf on a grass pitch, this must be continuous – i.e. not changing from one surface to another along the running area. Athletics stadia may be permitted to use running track material in the very corners where the track bends (and in some circumstances to the length and width of a pitch), provided The FA have given approval.’