Sheffield Wednesday manager, Danny Röhl, says that Michael Ihiekwe simply wasn’t ready to play for the Owls at the weekend.

Ihiekwe has been an important player for the Owls since the turn of the year when he forced his way back into the fold under Röhl, and had only missed out on two games in 2024 so far when he had to limp off early into the win over Blackburn Rovers.

The 31-year-old was missing from the matchday squad on Saturday afternoon when Wednesday took on West Bromwich Albion at Hillsborough, with Dominic Iorfa coming in to take his place in the middle of the Owls’ back three.

The Wednesday boss says that there is a good understanding between his players and himself now in terms of their availability, hence the decision for Barry Bannan to come off in the 3-0 win over West Brom.

“He felt something in the game at Blackburn,” Röhl told The Star. “Then he didn’t train in the beginning of the week. Yesterday (Friday) we tried it but he spoke honestly and we decided that it makes no sense because we need people who are 100%. It was the same with Barry, with the experienced players they want to play but they will take the responsibility and say if they’re not 100%. That’s a huge step forward in this team because we can trust each other more and more. This is good to see.”

It remains to be seen whether ‘Icky’ will be deemed fit enough to feature in the final game of the campaign this coming Saturday when they travel to Sunderland, however he’ll no doubt be itching to try and get back in order to aid their efforts to get the point that they need to retain their place in the Championship for next season.