Admission made over Sheffield Wednesday trio who missed training this week
Late decisions will be made on how heavily three Sheffield Wednesday players will feature in this afternoon’s welcoming of Ipswich Town to Hillsborough.
Four senior Owls featured in their national side’s squads during the international break.
And while Jeff Hendrick arrived from duty with the Republic of Ireland on Thursday, three other players were in more far-flung lands and were not able to re-join life at Middlewood Road until yesterday.
Di’Shon Bernard was stationed in the Caribbean with the Jamaica set-up, while Juan Delgado and Devis Vasquez were in South America with Chile and Colombia respectively.
Bernard and Delgado came off the bench in matches played in the early hours of Wednesday morning – Vasquez was an unused substitute – and the elongated travel involved delayed their return to training.
Owls boss Xisco admitted it would have to be taken into consideration when selecting his line-up for the Tractor Boys test.
“It’s normal because they are in another part of the world,” he said.
“We will see. They save energy in some moments of the travel. We will see how they arrive, but for us it is no excuse. I will put out the best first 11 in the next game.
“I want the first 11 to have full power. I want a connection with the fans, with power. It doesn’t matter whether it is an international player or not, who plays or not.
“We have to give 100 per cent for two things; the best for the team and because we have 23 or 24 players. We have to have a big respect for who is out of the list.
“They must show their level. If not, maybe who is in is out.”
All four players were involved for a combined total of 56 minutes across two matches apiece – Delgado came off the bench twice, Bernard once and Vasquez and Hendrick were unused.
Asked whether the release of players who don’t get pitch time is a source of any frustration, Xisco shrugged his shoulders.
“It shows a good level for our squad,” he said. “If we have five or six players in national teams, it is good.
“It is a problem for me because in these weeks you can work with them, but it is good for the club to have international players in your team.
“We will see how they arrive. Our staff follow how they are working in the time they are out and we receive the feeling and feedback from the national team and the players.
“We will see how they arrive after the travel. Sometimes the problem is the combination of the flights and the travel for a long time.
“Most important is that we have everybody ready to play.”
