Wednesday boss comments on Versatile Star situation after Stockport omission

August 10, 2023 admin sheffield wednesday 0

 

Xisco Munoz has ruled out an injury for Michael Ihiekwe, after the defender was left out of the side that overcame Stockport County in midweek.

 

Ihiekwe, 30, started the opening game v Southampton. The centre-back paired Dominic Iorfa in the middle of the Owls’ defence but was left out of the side that

played Stockport County in the Carabao Cup altogether.

And speaking to the press ahead of this weekend’s Championship clash at Hull City, Owls boss Munoz was asked about Ihiekwe’s situation.

He said:

“He’s okay. It’s one of the things – he had a very good performance against Southampton, he had a little bit tired. Sometimes you need rest, he rest.”

The Liverpool-born defender joined Wednesday on a free transfer last summer after seeing his contract at Rotherham United come to an end.

He went on to play 20 times in League One last season, playing all 120 minutes of the play-off final win over Barnsley.

To date, Ihiekwe has 378 career appearances to his name having represented the likes of Tranmere Rovers in the past, as well as racking up more than 180 outings

for Rotherham.

On to Hull City…

Wednesday return to action v Hull City this weekend, in what is going to be another tough outing for the Owls as they go in search of their first league points.

For Munoz though, Ihiekwe is one of a number of decent centre-backs at his disposal, so there looks to be some healthy competition for the starting spots going

forward.

Di’Shon Bernard and Bambo Diaby played in midweek but with Ihiekwe having missed out, he should come back into the XI and potentially partner Iorfa once again

– he started the Stockport game on the bench.

This weekend’s game at Hull kicks off at 3pm on Saturday.

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Sheffield Wednesday manager, Xisco, says that Michael Ihiekwe and Akin Famewo were purely rested in the Carabao Cup – hence the decision not to use them.

Ihiekwe and Famewo both started the opening game of the Championship season at the heart of Wednesday’s defence v Southampton earlier this month, but were

left out of the squad completely for the penalty shootout victory over Stockport County this week.

Any concerns over injuries for the pair have been quashed by the Owls boss though, who stated in Thursday’s press conference that they were both available for the

trip to Hull City this weekend should they be selected.

Speaking to the media, Xisco said, “Michael is ok, he had a very good performance against Southampton and had a little bit of tired muscles – sometimes you need
rest. We also had Bambo and Di’Shon ready to play this game and this is one of the things that’s perfect for a coach when you have 99% of the squad ready…
“Akin is ok, too, like Mike. After Southampton he was a little bit tired after we communicated we decided not to play another day – but he’s been in training very
good and he’s ready if I decide to play him against Hull.”

Liam Palmer and George Byers, who were both on the bench but didn’t feature on Tuesday, are also avaiable, while there are question marks over Mallik Wilks who

has ‘some problems, but we’ll see if he arrives (for Hull) or not’. Ciaran Brennan, who hasn’t played since the preseason camp in Spain, is the only other known

injury at this point.

Michael Smith, meanwhile, is looking likely to feature by the sounds of it after he missed out against Stockport due to illness, with the Owls boss saying, “Mike is

coming back today, he’s very good and it was a hard training from him – we’ll see tomorrow if he’s 100% for the game. 99% he’s ready to play.” He’s been linked with

Derby County, but the Owls rejected a recent loan bid.

Wednesday face the Tigers at 3pm on Saturday afternoon in their first away game of the campaign.

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