Owls trio come through test

Last updated : 06 August 2008 By C. Morris

Sheffield Wednesday beat Bradford City 2-0 in a specially arranged game behind closed doors at Middlewood Road yesterday.

Goals from youngster Lekaj and Tunnard won it for the Owls but more important than the result was the fact that three key players came through the game unscathed.

The match was organised in order to give Francis Jeffers, Steve Watson and Jimmy Smith the opportunity to prove their fitness before Saturdays' season opener against Burnley at Hillsborough.

All three got at least 45 minutes under their belt but it is Watson who seems most likely to be in contention to play at the weekend, unlike the other two returning players he has featured in almost all of the Owls pre-season friendlies.

Smith, on loan from Chelsea got injured at the start of the pre-season schedule in Holland and Jeffers is just coming back following injury last season.

Manager Brian Laws told the Sheffield Star that it may be more likely that the pair could return for the Cup game against Rotherham next week rather than be rushed back at the weekend.

Time will tell if this is to be the case, Laws had previously suggested that it would be good to keep Burnley guessing with regards to who may play on Saturday so this may yet be a ploy to put the opposition off track.

Akpo Sodje and Etienne Esajas also featured in the game against Bradford. Sodje has looked a little rusty at times during pre-season as he returns from a long lay-off. Likewise Esajas who did little to impress when he replaced Jermaine Johnson in last Saturday's game against Wigan and is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench against the Clarets.