28-year-old is finding new ways to disappoint at Sheffield Wednesday: View | OneFootball

Highlights

When you’re in a dogfight to maintain your Championship status, the last thing you need is a misfiring striker to add to your worries, but that’s what Sheffield Wednesday have in Ashley Fletcher.

The Middlesbrough loanee has featured in 23 league matches for the Owls this season and is yet to find the net, leading to a bit-part role in Danny Röhl’s squad.

The 28-year-old has only featured in a winning side three times in the league in the current campaign, and won’t have helped his chances of more game time after a shambolic display against Millwall over the weekend, despite the win.

Ashley Fletcher's nightmare v Millwall

With his side fighting tooth and nail to keep hold of a 2-0 advantage over their relegation rivals, Röhl turned to Fletcher to add some energy up front for the final few minutes in East London, but was left regretting that decision eleven minutes later.

Having already received one booking, Fletcher picked up the ball in his own half as his teammates repelled another attack from the home side, only to promptly give it back to Ryan Longman, who he takes down to receive a second yellow in eleven minutes.

Luckily for Fletcher, his teammates were able to see out the victory to move within four points of their opponents, who sit just above the drop zone in the Championship, but his brief cameo would have done him no favours with fans, teammates and manager alike.

When your backs are to the wall, and you’re scrapping for every point, you need people who are going to stand up and be counted and do everything they can to earn a victory, but Fletcher isn’t covering himself in glory at the minute.

There has to be a layer of trust within the team, and something as reckless as Fletcher’s performance over the weekend will be lingering in his manager’s mind as we head towards the run-in.

Fletcher’s career has taken a nose dive

After being hotly touted as a Manchester United youth product, Fletcher made his professional debut on loan at Barnsley in the second half of the 2015/16 season, where he netted four times in 20 league appearances for the Tykes.

A permanent move to West Ham followed, although he found regular game time elusive for the Hammers, with just three starts and 17 substitute appearances to his name, notching just the solitary goal in the League Cup.

Middlesbrough obviously saw enough in the young prospect to fork out £6.5 million on him in the summer of 2017, but with just two goals to his name, he moved to neighbours Sunderland on loan just six months later.

And that non-stop nature of temporary moves is where Fletcher has found himself ever since a permanent move to Watford in 2021. With New York Red Bulls, Wigan and now Wednesday all trying to get the best out of the striker, but none really succeeding with their task.

You have to go all the way back to March 4th 2023 for the last time Fletcher found the net - the equaliser in Wigan’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham - and with Ike Ugbo beginning to find form for Wednesday, it could well be another few months before we see that happen again, with a suspension to contend with too.