Not a fixture that will top many Sheffield Wednesday supporters' lists for the season, but Tuesday night's Jersey Mike's Trophy tie against Sunderland's under-21s may carry more interest than usual. Kick-off at Hillsborough is 7pm and the game is live on Sky Sports+.
Friendly cancellation opens the door for senior minutes
Wednesday had arranged a behind-closed-doors friendly against Championship opposition this week. That fell through when the other club withdrew to manage their own players' workload, so Henrik Pedersen's squad played an in-house game on Thursday instead. The cancellation means more senior players could be involved against the under-21s than would normally be the case for a Trophy group game.
Pedersen hasn't hidden his frustration with the length of the break. He called it "way too long" and said: "I would much more prefer a normal system and then we get a rhythm again." He has also pointed out that the gap has allowed for more intense training sessions than a crowded fixture list normally permits.
Team news and international absentees
Harry Gray (England U19), Will Grainger (Wales U19), Kieran Morrison (Northern Ireland) and Yan Valery (Tunisia) are all away on international duty. Valery's friendly against Mali is on Monday. Sean Fusire has no further games with Zimbabwe in this window. Ali Al-Hamadi pulled out of the Iraq squad with an ankle problem and has since been seen back at training, though how serious the injury is hasn't been confirmed.
Max Lowe, Sil Swinkels and Jordi Liongola are all continuing their recoveries. Di'Shon Bernard is in the final stages of his rehabilitation after making his competitive comeback in the last Trophy game, his first appearance since February 2025.
Salford comeback set the tone in Group A
Wednesday opened the group with a 2–1 win at Salford City on 22 September. Pedersen made eight changes from the Stockport draw. Ben Woodburn put Salford ahead before Davis Keillor-Dunn headed in his first goal for the club from Joel Akpobi's cross. Callum Slattery won a penalty after a one-two with the debutant Will McPartland inside the box, and Jamal Lowe scored it to win the game. Salford had far more of the ball in the box, with 19 shots to Wednesday's five, and their manager Peter Cklamovski felt his side deserved more.
Akpobi was named man of the match on his debut and signed his first professional contract the following day. Pedersen said the winger had been "so nervous" but "played with a big, big courage and a big heart". He was one of several young players given first-team minutes that night, and some of that group will be hoping for another chance on Tuesday.
What Sunderland's under-21s bring
Matt Craddock's under-21s drew 3–3 at Accrington Stanley in their opening group game, then lost the shootout 3–1, which gave Accrington the bonus point. Trei Ogunsuyi, Tom Proctor and Timur Tutierov scored, with Accrington equalising late through Stefan Moles. Tutierov has also been named in the Sunderland first team's Europa League squad. Accrington boss John Doolan described Craddock's side as "very technical", and they have scored freely in recent weeks, although they have not kept a clean sheet in their last 11 games.
That leaves Wednesday top of the group on three points, ahead of Accrington on two, the under-21s on one and Salford on zero. The top two go through, and a win on Tuesday would put Wednesday in a strong position before Accrington come to Hillsborough on 10 November.
Sources: The Star, The Star – internationals, The Star – Salford reaction, Sunderland Echo, The72, Sky Sports