Why Yisa Alao and Jarvis Thornton were substituted in Sheffield Wednesday's defeat to Portsmouth
A standout performance from 17-year-old starlet Yisa Alao provided a bright glimmer in a dank weekend for Sheffield Wednesday.
The South Yorkshire-born teenager is one of several young players to have been handed an opportunity in the first team this season with the club operating on heavily reduced playing numbers and his full Championship debut in defeat to Portsmouth caught the eye.
His bright showing was complimented with that of fellow youngster Jarvis Thornton, 20, in the middle of midfield. The pair were substituted as part of a triple change just after the hour as efforts to continue to manage the squad - in no small part the workload of young players not accustomed to the intensity and output of Championship football.
On Alao, Pedersen said: “He played a really good game. Against Brentford, after a difficult beginning, he was really good in the game. Against Brentford it was good defensively, a lot of pressing situations, today he showed offensive quality. He had courage on the ball, braveness, belief. It was a really good performance from him.
“We had to take him out because he had cramp. After the Brentford game he struggled with him hamstring. This is why. It doesn't matter what happened today, even with the cramp, we had to take him out at 55 or 60 minutes because otherwise the risk is too big.”
Like Alao, Thornton was the subject of a pre-planned substitution owing to his condition. The midfielder was replaced by new signing loanee Jaden Heskey, who made his Owls debut and was watched on by his footballer father, former England forward Emile.
“Jarvis has done much more than we could have expected from him,” Pedersen said. “He is very disciplined in his defensive work, his offensive positioning in the middle of the pitch. He has made a good progression. Today he had trouble with his calf and so we should take care of him.
“This substitution was planned, we wanted to use Jaden, but he has not trained very much in the last period because the under-21s (at Manchester City) have not had games. In the last seven days especially he has not trained very much. So that is why he could have maximum 30 minutes. So with Jarvis' problem with his calf, that is why we planned it as we did.”