A forgotten Sheffield Wednesday player was recently photographed in first-team training.
The run-in has begun, and it is a big one for Sheffield Wednesday.
These final eight games are perhaps more vital than the final eight games of the previous season, when the Owls were promoted from League One.
There appears to be a lot riding on Sheffield Wednesday retaining Championship membership for another year, including the future of Danny Rohl, who is currently coveted by Sunderland, as well as the futures of several key players.
However, a few players appear to be on track to return in the final few weeks of the season.
Sheffield Wednesday Injuries
Thankfully, Sheffield Wednesday hasn’t had many serious injuries this season.
Juan Delgado, who signed in the summer, has missed the majority of the season due to a hip ailment.
Callum Paterson and Josh Windass, who were both injured for a few weeks, have returned to first-team training ahead of the run-in.
And January signing Kristian Pedersen has also been spotted in first-team training at Sheffield Wednesday this week; the Dane signed on loan from Swansea City on deadline day and has made one appearance since.
He began at left-back in the 4-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town and struggled, demonstrating a lack of match fitness before suffering an injury that has kept him out since.
Kristian Pedersen will have a point to prove to Daniel Rohl.
Rohl and the Hillsborough recruitment team clearly saw something in Pedersen that encouraged them to bring him in.
However, in the limited time we saw the 29-year-old in action, he failed to impress the Sheffield Wednesday supporters.
He had only played four games for Swansea in the first half of the season, and it was evident that he lacked match fitness, which made his subsequent injury unsurprising.
However, he has a wealth of Championship experience, having made 161 games in the second tier, the most of which came during his four-year stay with Birmingham City.
What should pique Rohl’s interest is that Pedersen is a natural left-back; Marvin Johnson began in that position against Ipswich Town, but struggled.
Johnson is more of a left wing-back, and his lack of defensive skills may have been exposed in that game, but Pedersen, if fit, could be a better choice if Rohl goes with a back four.
Pedersen could potentially play as a left-sided centre-back, with Johnson farther ahead as a wing-back, giving Rohl and Sheffield Wednesday even more alternatives in the final stretch.
Pedersen will undoubtedly have something to show following a difficult start to life in S6, and now that he is back in training, he may have a chance to demonstrate his worth in the coming games.
Although the Dane will not play this weekend as the Owls host his parent club Swansea City.
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