Danny Rohl confirms double Sheffield Wednesday blow ahead of Derby County | OneFootball

Frontmen Josh Windass and Ike Ugbo are both doubts ahead of the Owls’ game against Derby County.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl has confirmed duo Josh Windass and Ike Ugbo are both injury doubts ahead of their Championship meeting with Derby County this weekend.

The Owls head into Sunday’s game against the Rams full of confidence after a convincing 2-0 victory away at Hull City in midweek clawed themselves away from any relegation trouble, with Rohl’s men sitting seven points clear of the bottom three in 13th place.

There weren’t all smiles though, as both Windass and Ugbo were replaced at half-time in East Yorkshire, with the former dealing with a hamstring complaint, while Ugbo’s withdrawal was originally put down to tactical issues.

It appears now though that Ugbo has picked up an issue in training on Thursday, which has put his participation in the match hanging by a thread. Windass continues to be assessed to see if the 30-year-old can play any part himself.

This news undoubtedly comes as a body blow to their attacking options, particularly in a game that looks very winnable to keep the forward momentum going.

Sheffield Wednesday are already dealing with the longer-term absences of Akin Famewo and Olaf Kobacki, who will also miss the trip to Pride Park.

In his pre-match press conference, Rohl said he would use Saturday’s final training session to see whether Windass and Ugbo will be available for selection, with no risks being taken ahead of the hectic winter period.

As reported by the Sheffield Star, Rohl said: “Josh (Windass) looks OK, we have to look tomorrow and we will need one more day.

“Ike (Ugbo) we will also have to have a little look at, we don’t want to risk anything there. All the other players are fine. These are small question marks but we will take the day tomorrow and see what is possible, whether it makes sense or it is too much risk. If you are out now for two weeks, it is two weeks and this is what we cannot risk.”

Going into further detail on Windass and Ugbo’s conditions, Rohl added: “He (Windass) has a tight hamstring, it’s not a big issue, but with a hamstring you have to pay attention. I had a conversation this morning with Josh, he trained individually today which was important, to see he was ready on the grass. He had some treatment and we have 48 hours to go, that’s a long time. If the game was today then maybe it would not be possible for him to play, but we have two days to go.

“(Ugbo) was after the game without a problem, then today he felt a little bit in the warm-up and we said ‘OK, no risk, go in, let’s check this.’ We will see tomorrow if he can train but in this case I am positive... We have 48 hours. Let’s see.”

There’s no doubt Sheffield Wednesday will be a much stronger force heading to Pride Park with both Windass and Ugbo as options to use.

Both have been prominent starters for the club up to this point in the season, with Windass in particular providing key goals to help push the Owls away from the League One trap door, adding to his tally with a penalty conversion at the MKM Stadium.

The 26-year-old Ugbo has been on a barren run of form in front of goal this term, going 16 second tier games without finding the back of the net, but provided arguably his best performance of the season against the Tigers in that first half, so he will be hoping this latest injury doesn’t set back any momentum he has generated.

With games coming thick and fast, Owls fans will want to see Windass and Ugbo in that matchday squad on Sunday, knowing that they will have a plethora of attacking options to attack the approaching winter schedule.