, Sheffield Wednesday man doubtful for Millwall clash while fresh defender setback confirmed

Sheffield Wednesday man doubtful for Millwall clash while fresh defender setback confirmed

Sheffield Wednesday caretaker manager Neil Thompson has said that Callum Paterson will need a late assessment before determining if he can play against Millwall.

The Owls travel to the capital on Saturday looking to back up an impressive victory on the road at Bournemouth in midweek which strengthened their Championship survival hopes.

Paterson opened the scoring in that 2-1 success but had to be substituted shortly after the break with an ankle injury.

And that knock has put his participation for Wednesday’s second away trip of the week in some doubt, with Thompson confirming he would need a late check.

“He’ll be assessed today,” the stand-in Owls boss told The72 in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “He’s just caught his studs in the turf and tweaked his ankle. Another day of recovery helps so were hopeful he’ll be okay but we won’t know until later.

“There’s one or two little niggles as we saw in the (Bournemouth) game but obviously I’ll make a decision on them in the next 24 hours.”

There will also be a late call made on midfielder Liam Shaw, who hasn’t featured since early January due to a shoulder issue but is back in training.

Thompson said of the teenager: “Liam was back on the grass yesterday and the day before so we’ll have a look at him this morning.”

George Wood/Getty Images Sport

The verdict was less positive on two defenders though, with Joost van Aken and Moses Odubajo set to be out for an extended period of time.

For van Aken it is particularly unfortunate, with the Dutch centre-back suffering an ankle injury last week in an Under-23s match used to build up his fitness again following more than a month out with a groin problem.

“It’s a real fine line, because they need to play football games to get them back in condition or else they’re going to have the same issues anyway when they play first-team games,” said Thompson.

“He just landed awkwardly when he went up for a header and he turned his ankle. That one I can’t really put any length of time on. How long is a piece of string?

“I feel for him, he’s done a lot of hard work rehabbing, and to come back two or three days and have an injury is disappointing for him.”

As for full-back Odubajo, the hamstring injury which has kept him sidelined for the past three fixtures is likely to see him miss a few more games yet.

“In terms of Odubajo, he’s going to be out for a wee while,” said Thompson. “I can’t put a length of time on it but it’ll probably be a few weeks rather than next week.”

Sheffield Wednesday do at least have the services of central defender Chey Dunkley again, as he played for the first time in 2021 off the bench in the Bournemouth victory following a hamstring problem.

But the Owls remain without goalkeeper Cameron Dawson (knee), while defender Dominic Iorfa (Achilles) is not expected to play again this season.

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