New signing Tayo Adaramola was a surprise exclusion from the Sheffield Wednesday squad that lost at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday evening.
The Crystal Palace youngster arrived as an important loan addition on the penultimate day of the transfer window to offer Premier League promise in the left wing-back position – a primary target of a difficult month in the market. He was registered long before the cut-off to be available for the rearranged clash at Ewood Park – but did not feature in the matchday squad.
The Star reported ahead of kick-off that Adaramola was not injured and asked for the reasons for the wait, Pedersen explained that the medical data sent over to Wednesday showed playing him would have presented a risk to a squad already threadbare and carrying injuries. The 22-year-old’s loan with Leyton Orient ended in the first week of January and though he has done some training, the requisite intensity had not been there for a player whose young career has been built on fast bursts from defence.
“There was a clear no from the medical department,” Pedersen said post-match. “There is no injury, but in the last two weeks training he has not sprinted one time and he is a very explosive player. So to let him play today, it was too big a risk to go from nothing to go into a Championship game as such an explosive player. He would have to sprint, sprint, sprint.
“So there is no injury, but it was a clear no from the medical team. But he trained today, he will train tomorrow and he will also be ready for Sunday.” Asked whether he might be ready to start at Swansea City on Sunday, Pedersen said: “We’ll see.”
Youngster Reece Johnson bounced back from a difficult couple of games to put on a solid showing on the left side of proceedings at Ewood Park. Wednesday will make the trip to South Wales without hope of any further returnees, though Olaf Kobacki was able to make his first appearance since September and is back in contention.
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