Danny Röhl has revealed that Sheffield Wednesday appealed the decision to send off Di’Shon Bernard last weekend.
The Owls failed to beat Luton Town last weekend but were hindered by the dismissal of the defender for an apparent handball 15 minutes before full-time. Wednesday was leading at Kenilworth Road, but a brace from Carlton Morris flipped the game in the Hatters’ favour.
It condemned the Yorkshire side to their fifth straight winless game in the Championship, joining Cardiff City as the joint worst side in the form table over the last five games. They welcome table-toppers West Bromwich Albion to Hillsborough on the weekend but will be without Bernard due to an appeal submitted by the club.
Röhl revealed in the press conference ahead of the game against The Baggies (Quotes via Sheffield Star): “We tried but it was not successful – and that’s the reason why he is not available for the weekend.
“I think the club spoke with some refs, but all in all we cannot change it now. It’s now about focusing on the next game, I can’t influence the other things… We spoke a lot about this in the last couple of days, but now it’s about focusing on the next opponent.”
The resulting substitution for Wednesday gave Michael Ihiekwe a chance from the bench in the dying embers of the game, having been dropped from the starting 11 after playing the full match against Queens Park Rangers. The former Rotherham United man has only featured five times this season with two of those coming in the EFL Cup against Grimsby Town and Hull City.
Most of the joy found in the blue half of Sheffield has come in the League Cup, with Blackpool being the latest side knocked out by The Owls. Last night’s draw pitted them away from home to Premier League side Brentford, with the fixture scheduled on the 30th of October.
Writer’s View
It will be somewhat of a blow to lose Di’Shon Bernard for a big game like the one this weekend against West Brom. His arm was in an unnatural position but it is borderline on whether he should be dismissed as it hit his shoulder. Either way, you can not fault his decision-making as he prevented Mark McGuinness from scoring and gave James Beadle the chance to stop a penalty.
Sheffield Wednesday are in a rut and West Brom is probably the worst option at the moment to try and prevent yet another defeat. Carlos Corberan’s team are in red-hot form and Josh Maja is currently leading the scoring charts in the Championship. With a Steel City Derby on the horizon in November, Danny Röhl’s men will hope to find some kind of form in the next eight league matches before they make the short trip to Bramall Lane.
