Sheffield Wednesday reserves kick-off their league campaign this evening against city rivals Sheffield United and will field a young team, highlighting how injuries to the 1st team has left the Owls with only the bare bones of a squad.
One man who looks set to be a glaring omission from tonight's line up yet again is striker Francis Jeffers. The forward was pencilled in to make a return to action in this game over a week ago but it now seems that he has been erased from this match.
Jeffers was a high profile signing last summer, with the purported £700,000 transfer fee taking up most of the clubs budget for bringing players in last season but he made little more than a handful of league starts during 2007/08, scoring just two goals in the process.
After almost 7 months out it was thought that Jeffers could be fit for the start of the season and played 45 minutes in a specially arranged friendly game in the week before the Burnley game in a bid to step up his fitness.
Initial predictions were that he would feature in the League Cup tie against Rotherham last week but injuries to other Owls strikers caused a change of plan and Wednesday opted for a cautious approach and left him out in order to avoid adding to the injury crisis.
Now it seems he has suffered a further setback and he is unlikely to be risked for 1st team duty until he is able to get some game time under his belt for the reserves to aid his match fitness.
Many fans have now become almost resigned to the fact that he will not be available week after week and it will come as a bigger surprise when he does actually return to play in a competitive game.
Sheffield United bring a much more experienced reserve squad to Hillsborough, including the likes of Geary, Spring, Stead, Montgomery and Hendrie.