There are fears that Sheffield Wednesday midfielder John Buckley could be spending a long spell on the sidelines having gone off injured in their Championship clash with Queens Park Rangers.
A huge last minute win for Wednesday was somewhat overshadowed by Buckley’s injury as well as ones suffered by Bambo Diaby and Callum Patterson. Although it is too early to know the extent of the injury to each of them, it is believed that Buckley is the one worst affected.
Having only come on 15 minutes prior to his injury, it is certainly a worry for Danny Röhl that he may be without one of his midfielders for a long period of time. Although the 24-year-old hasn’t seen many minutes this season, starting just five games, he has acted as important cover at points.
The injury also comes at a particularly pivotal part of the Owls’ season and with a busy Christmas fixture schedule coming up, Buckley would’ve no doubt seen plenty more minutes due to rotation.
It will now be a bit of a headache for Röhl with his squad numbers depleting, but despite that, Wednesday have been on a good spell of form recently.
Although the Owls sit in 23rd place and six points from safety, they have won three of their last four matches, their latest win coming against fellow relegation-threatened side QPR who now sit only four points above them.
However with three games coming in the space of seven days between the 23rd and 29th of December, Wednesday’s form may take a bit of a knock given their injury woes.
Speaking to The Star, Röhl gave a rather brief message on the injuries suffered against QPR.
“At the moment I have no news, but you can ask me next week.
“Maybe I’ll have some information then, and hopefully the injuries are not too big, because we need everybody. It’s about finding solutions, but today we’ll enjoy the win and cross my fingers for my injured players and go into next week.”
Although Röhl himself did not give a designation for Buckley’s injury, the Lancashire Telegraph reported that the Blackburn loanee looks likely for a long period on the sidelines.
There will no doubt be a new update from Wednesday’s manager this week but from early reports, it doesn’t sound too positive for the 24-year-old.
Writer’s View
Although Buckley may not be a key player in Röhl’s side, his injury comes at a time where he may have been needed more than ever. Things have looked up for the Owls in recent weeks and after a torrid start to their Championship campaign, have really begun to grt the ball rolling.
They welcome an out-of-form Cardiff City to Hillsborough on Saturday in game which could be made harder by injuries. Nonetheless, given the newfound confidence that the side are playing with, they may be able to close up to the rest of the teams around the relegation zone.
Be the first to comment