The 17 players set to miss Sheffield Wednesday v Birmingham City ft £30k-a-week man | OneFootball

FLW has looked at the players expected to miss Tuesday's clash at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City are preparing to lock horns in the Championship on Tuesday night at Hillsborough, in what is an extremely important game for both clubs for differing reasons.

The Owls suffered their 20th-straight game without victory in a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth in S6 on Saturday afternoon, and defeat to Blues would see the club break an unwanted record on top of what has been a grim campaign for their long-suffering supporters.

Meanwhile, Blues recorded a first point away from St. Andrew's since November 26th with a 1-1 draw at Swansea City in front of the Sky Sports cameras. However, the West Midlands side are still eight points adrift of the play-offs, and have only won twice away all season in the second tier.

This midweek clash also comes during a period where both clubs are without several players, with a combined 17 from the two sides expected to miss out.

As such, Football League World have looked at each of their respective situations.

Sheffield Wednesday

Pierce Charles

One of 11 absentees for Henrik Pedersen is highly-rated goalkeeper, Pierce Charles.

After missing the majority of the campaign with a shoulder issue sustained in August, the Northern Ireland international took a blow to the opposite shoulder in the recent FA Cup tie against Brentford, and he could be sidelined for at least two months.

Di'shon Bernard

Di'shon Bernard has been sidelined since March 2025 after suffering a serious knee injury.

It was initially hoped that the ex-Manchester United man would be back available right now. However, after undergoing surgery to speed up his recovery, the defender is expected to be sidelined until at least February.

Dominic Iorfa

After being substituted after 56 minutes against QPR on January 4th, it was then revealed that Dominic Iorfa had suffered a groin injury that would keep him out of action for the next "four to six weeks", according to Pedersen.

At the very earliest, this would see the 30-year-old return for the home clash with Wrexham on January 31st.

Liam Cooper

Liam Cooper was signed as one of two free agents back in November. However, the former Leeds United title-winning captain is also out with a groin issue, meaning he will play no part in this fixture.

As with Iorfa, when the news broke, Pedersen revealed an immediate recovery timescale of at least four weeks.

Ernie Weaver

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Ernie Weaver.

The 19-year-old made his first nine senior appearances in the autumn, and was the subject of high praise due to his strong performances in league and cup.

That was until he sustained a serious foot injury that required surgery, and it is likely to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Gui Siqueria

Gui Siqueira will also be absent for the remainder of the season due to an achilles issue picked up in September in an Under-21s clash with Colchester United.

The Brazilian also earned plenty of praise his performances in the EFL Cup, which included a stunning strike in an eventual penalty-shootout win vs Bolton Wanderers, which came just weeks before such injury misfortune.

Max Lowe

Max Lowe is another defender not available to Pedersen, as he suffered a calf blow in defeat to Ipswich Town last month.

Despite the fact he is currently sidelined, the 28-year-old has become the subject of transfer speculation linking him with a potential reunion with Danny Rohl at SPFL side, Rangers.

Nathaniel Chalobah

Shortly after returning from a hamstring issue, Nathaniel Chalobah joined Wednesday's ever-growing injury list last month ahead of the defeat to the Tractor Boys, with the aforementioned muscle suffering another flare-up in training.

He has since missed all the Owls' following seven matches across all competitions, having made just three appearances so far this term.

George Brown

George Brown, who scored in the reverse fixture at St. Andrew's, is also currently sidelined with a hamstring issue which came to light in the lead-up to Christmas.

As such, the man who has scored two goals for Wednesday so far this season is still in the process of his recovery.

Ike Ugbo

Ike Ugbo is also sidelined with a hamstring flare-up which was sustained before the Boxing Day draw with Hull City.

Having missed the past six games, Pedersen stated in his pre-match press conference that he is unaware as to when the Canadian will return to fitness.

“It's more or less the same. He's still training beside the main group because he still has a challenge to really sprint. So there's a nerve on the backside [of his hamstring] and he still has trouble with this."

Olaf Kobacki

Meanwhile, Pedersen also gave a fresh update on Olaf Kobacki, who has been missing since September with a groin issue.

Speaking on the left-winger who has now missed 22 successive outings but was spotted in training images on the club's social media account, the Dane claimed: “Olaf is fresh now, but it's many, many weeks and months since he really played football.

“He needs to have a mini pre-season to get this basic before we can minimise the risk for him to play."

Birmingham City

Ethan Laird

The first of six expected absentees for Chris Davies is full-back, Ethan Laird.

Laird has been absent ever since pulling his hamstring against Coventry City on September 27th, with the Blues boss revealing in November that he is expected to be back available sometime in February, which will be a major and timely boost.

Bright Osayi-Samuel

Bright Osayi-Samuel enjoyed an impressive AFCON tournament, helping Nigeria to a third-place finish in the process.

Whilst it probably would have been too much for the summer signing to fly back from Morocco and feature immediately for Blues, there are now some injury fears over the Super Eagles international, as he was seen limping off in the 65th minute against Egypt on Saturday afternoon.

Jack Robinson

Jack Robinson is also sidelined for Blues, although the specific details of his injury sustained at Cambridge United are yet to be revealed.

The experienced campaigner had also started to come into form in the West Midlands after a dire start which included two red cards and an own-goal. However, the former Sheffield United man will not feature against his old rivals.

Lee Buchanan has been sidelined for nearly 13 months through an ACL injury sustained against Blackpool in December 2024.

However, the 24-year-old is approaching the end of his recovery, and will likely deputise for recent signing, Kai Wagner, in the short-term future due to Birmingham's current woes in defence.

Alex Cochrane

That is because fellow left-back, Alex Cochrane, is now set for a prolonged period on the sidelines with an ankle issue.

After featuring in just one of Blues' previous seven matchday squads in all competitions, Davies was able to provide an update on the 25-year-old ahead of the clash in South Yorkshire.

“I don’t think there’s anything imminent,” said Davies. “Jack has picked up a knock that’s going to keep him out for a little bit. Demarai is still out, Ethan is out, Alex is a bit of a longer-term one. He is going to be out for a few months, sadly. There’s no one that will be back soon.”

Demarai Gray

As alluded to by Davies, Gray, who is ESTIMATED to earn £30,000 per week in B9, is his final absentee.

The experienced winger has been one of his boyhood club's star performers since his summer return. However, he has been sidelined since going down in the opening 15 minutes with a calf strain on Boxing Day against Derby County.