Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday have been left with only eight senior players following an injury to midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah.

The Owls have already lost Sean Fusire (Zimbabwe) and Yan Valery (Tunisia), with both players away on international duty at the African Cup of Nations for at least the next four weeks.

Chalobah has definitely been ruled out of Saturday's Championship match at Ipswich (15:00 GMT), with boss Henrik Pedersen revealing he limped out of training on Thursday and will require a scan.

"Right now we have eight senior players with Championship experience and then we have a big group of Under-21 players and today we had some Under-18 players integrate in training so we could train the same way," Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"We have to manage every single exercise and training session and the load for every single player. How long can a player play against Ipswich and then Hull (Boxing Day)? Then we have four games in nine days, so we need to make a plan because a senior player cannot play all of those minutes."

Wednesday remain in administration and so are only able to sign free agents, but Pedersen says there is no scope at the moment to bring any new faces in.

"We need players - we know it takes time to get everything (a new owner) done and right now we don't know who the new owner will be or the reaction from the EFL, so there are a lot of questions before we know what we can do in the January transfer window," he said.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen says his team simply did not perform well enough in Monday's 3-0 defeat by Derby, a result which extends the Hillsborough club's winless run to 14 matches.

"It was not enough to win a game in the Championship," he said. "We started well, were more dominant on the ball, but we have spoken about playing direct and if they are more physical, then try to challenge them on the ground.

"But we played two much on the front side and not enough in behind. The few times we did get in behind we started to become more dangerous.

"We kept on going in the second half but after the second goal, the confidence went out of the boys and we fell away."

Image source, Getty Images

Blackburn Rovers' Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday, which was abandoned earlier this month after a downpour at Ewood Park, will be replayed on Tuesday, 3 February.

The original game on 6 December was called off by referee Ruebyn Ricardo after 59 minutes with Rovers leading 1-0 at the time when the pitch was deemed unplayable.

It was the second fixture to be abandoned this season at Ewood Park because of a waterlogged pitch after September's game against Ipswich was called off after 79 minutes.

That match was replayed on 2 December and ended in a 1-1 draw.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield Wednesday have received a number of offers for teenage defender Yisa Alao from Premier League clubs, BBC Radio Sheffield understands.

The 17-year-old has made two appearances for the Owls in the League Cup after making his debut in August and has featured in matchday squads in the Championship.

Administration-hit Wednesday are bottom of the second tier on minus nine points.

Sheffield Wednesday will hope to end a run of 13 games without a win when they welcome Derby County to Hillsborough on Monday night (20:00 GMT).

The Owls, who are bottom and 29 points adrift of safety following their 18-point deduction, have tasted victory just once all season, which came on 20 September away to Portsmouth.

The Rams, who are seven points back from the play-off places and trying to stay in touch, have won just one of their past five games (D1 L3).

• Sheffield Wednesday have won their past three league games against Derby, their best winning run against the Rams since a run of five between 1930 and 1932.

• Derby have lost their previous three league trips to Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday, last beating the Owls away from home in a 3-1 win in February 2020.

• Sheffield Wednesday are the only Championship side without a home win this season (D2 L8). The only second tier side to have a longer home winless start to a season was Portsmouth in 1975-76 (12 games).

• Derby's Carlton Morris has scored six away Championship goals this season – last season the Rams' leading scorer on the road was Jerry Yates with seven. Morris has been involved in four goals in his past three league games against Sheffield Wednesday (3 goals, 1 assist).

• Sheffield Wednesday have gone 21 home Championship matches without a clean sheet – the last side to have a longer run without a home shutout in the competition was Colchester between April 2007 and March 2008 (23).

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield Wednesday defender Yan Valery has been included in Tunisia's squad for the African Cup of Nations which starts in Morocco later this month.

The 26-year-old has made 16 appearances for Tunisia since being first called into the senior squad in September 2022.

Tunisia, who lifted the Afcon title for the only time in 2004, open their campaign against Uganda on December 23 before finishing the group stage against Nigeria on December 27 and Tanzania on December 30.

Valery could also feature in next year's World Cup with Tunisia having qualified for the seventh time.

He may have seen his side's run of league games without a win extended to 13, but Henrik Pedersen was still proud of his Sheffield Wednesday side despite seeing them concede a late equaliser away at Watford.

The Owls boss told BBC Radio Sheffield: "The boys played with belief, togetherness and discipline, it made me proud. They wanted to support each other, and that was fantastic.

"I am very proud of my players tonight, they gave everything. On the other side we are disappointed because when it is so close and we couldn't finish it off, we invested so much, so it is mixed feelings.

"We have to turn it around. We can compete on a high level, and that is a positive. We see so many players growing and growing. We have to learn to see out games but we can be proud of a lot of good things tonight.

"The fans were great today, it was another good away game. Everyone is working so hard, the players, the staff. We are close, we just have to keep on going, we are going in the right direction."

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester United defender Harry Amass is in demand next month.

Amass has had an outstanding spell at Sheffield Wednesday during the first-half of the season.

The 18-year-old has excelled in the left wing-back role under manager Henrik Pedersen, and has been an ever-present since coming to the club at the end of the transfer window.

Wednesday would like to keep Amass but are aware there are a number of options available for the former Watford schoolboy, including alternative loans and a permanent sale.

Manchester United are yet to reach a final decision over a player whose contract does not expire until 2027.

The situation is complicated as the player he left United to accommodate, Paraguay international Diego Leon, is also the subject of loan interest, having failed to make the first team bench since the victory over Sunderland on 4 October.

Leon is yet to make his senior debut for United even though he won his first full cap in October.

Amass made seven appearances for United last season, making four starts in the Premier League.

Image source, Getty Images

The FA Cup third round draw was made on Monday evening, with all 24 Championship clubs entering at this stage of the competition.

Ties will take place between Thursday, 8 January and Monday, 12 January.

These are the ties involving Championship clubs:

• Cambridge United v Birmingham City

• Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City v Watford

• Charlton Athletic v Chelsea

• Stoke City v Coventry

• Derby County v Leeds United

• Ipswich Town v Blackpool

• Cheltenham Town v Leicester City

• Fulham v Middlesbrough

• Burnley v Millwall

• Norwich City v Walsall

• MK Dons v Oxford United

• Portsmouth v Arsenal

• Preston North End v Wigan Athletic

• West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United v Mansfield Town

• Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

• Doncaster Rovers v Southampton

• Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

• Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

You can see the full draw here.

Image source, Opta

Watford will seek to improve the Championship's second best home record when they welcome basement-boys Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

The Hornets made it 18 points claimed from losing positions as they came from behind to beat Norwich at Vicarage Road on Saturday to go 13th, just three points below the top-six.

They have won 21 points from 10 home games, second only to leaders Coventry (23).

Rock-bottom Wednesday are effectively 29 points adrift of safety and have lost four straight and 12 of 18 overall, while their game at Blackburn on Saturday was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch at Ewood Park just before the hour.

The Owls' only win of the campaign did however come on the road at Portsmouth in September.

• Watford are unbeaten in their past nine league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W5 D4), since a 1-0 home loss in December 2013.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past 12 away league games against Watford (D3 L8), beating them 1-0 in December 2013 thanks to a Connor Wickham strike.

• Watford have won exactly half of their 48 league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W24 D11 L13). Among sides they've faced at least 40 times in the Football League, only against Bristol Rovers do they have a higher win rate (54% - 45/84).

• Watford lost six of their 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Championship games from the start of last season until February (W2 D2), but are since unbeaten in six (W3 D3).

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost just one of their past eight midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) away league games (W3 D4), though it was two weeks ago against Millwall (0-1).

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Amid reports of two interested parties potentially merging to try and buy Sheffield Wednesday, it begs the question — why would that be necessary?

If the two groups, reportedly billionaire John McEvoy and members of the Storch family, have the financial clout typically required to buy a club of Wednesday's size, why would they need to come together?

The answer is probably down to the sheer amount of investment needed to get the Owls to a place, on and off the pitch, where ambitious owners would want to be.

The infrastructure work required alone is substantial. A fortune will need to be spent on Hillsborough and the training ground to match the facilities enjoyed by Championship peers.

If you want a speculative figure, you could be looking at more than £100m to get it right.

Although big money is available through TV rights in the Premier League, the reality of life outside of the top-flight is you're going to be a loss-making business.

Any prospective owner of Wednesday is not buying a club that is on the doorstep of the top-flight, that could take seasons. Therefore, they'll be looking at a hefty loss each year. Possibly around £10m a season.

Investment in the squad would be necessary over a period of time. Then, even if you get to the Premier League, a distant dream for any buyer at the moment, you'd need to spend huge sums even with the TV money coming in.

A major financial burden is required to drive this club forwards, in a way that might not be necessary at others with better infrastructure.

Wednesday, 27 points adrift of safety, are also inevitably going to be in League One next season - with limited playing assets given what's happened to the squad over the past six months.

Wealthy owners merging together would be a way to pool resources to tackle these challenges.

It's worth noting that the 'one owner who buys the club' model isn't as common as some might think. Birmingham City and Ipswich Town are good examples of clubs with multiple investors.

Even at the highest level, Jim Ratcliffe bought a stake in Manchester United and runs the football operations at Old Trafford, yet the Glazer family remain majority owners. And Chelsea are owned by a consortium led by a a private equity firm.

It should be noted this potential merger would result in just one interested group.

As noted in a statement by administrator Kris Wigfield on Friday, the club is still narrowing the field to one preferred bidder and discussions are ongoing.

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles could return against Blackburn on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Boss Henrik Pedersen confirmed on Thursday that Charles could be back within "maybe 48 hours, 24 hours".

The Northern Ireland international has been out with a shoulder injury but did play a full 90 minutes for an Owls XI in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup on Wednesday.

"I'm really pleased with what he did [on Wednesday]," Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I'm looking forward to when Pierce is back in the team. He has so much to give, with his personality and also as a goalkeeper."

Defender Max Lowe might also make the squad after missing the loss to Preston North End last time out.

Nathaniel Chalobah returned to training this week, while midfielder George Brown is due to return to training "not next week but the week after," according to Pedersen.

Pedersen also confirmed that the Owls and Manchester United have been discussing left-back Harry Amass' future ahead of the January transfer window. Amass is on loan from the Premier League club.

Listen to the full interview with Pedersen and more Sheffield Wednesday content on BBC Sounds.