Danny Rohl has explained why Di’Shon Bernard was left out of Sheffield Wednesday’s defeat to Norwich City.
The defender arrived at Hillsborough on a permanent deal from Manchester United in the summer, having spent the second half of last season on loan with Portsmouth.
Di’Shon Bernard has since been an important figure for the Owls, starting 13 of their 20 games in the Championship so far.
The 23-year-old had started all three of Sheffield Wednesday‘s games in their brief unbeaten run, but was dropped to the bench for yesterday’s trip to Norwich City.
Bernard was replaced by Michael Ihiekwe in the starting line-up, with the 31-year-old making only his seventh appearance in the second tier this term.
Fans were left wondering whether Bernard had picked up an injury ahead of the clash at Carrow Road, but Danny Rohl has now confirmed that there is nothing to worry about.
Speaking to The Star after the game, the German said: “I had the feeling that, after three games in a row, it might be worth having some fresh legs in the last line, but we also had a plan to do something with Di’Shon where he’d come in – the game was different to what we expected, though, and I had to change the shape to a back four. Then it was not easy for him to come in, it was a tactical thing to keep him out.
“His development, his process, his performances at the moment are good. So leaving him out was just to bring fresh legs in.”
Will Di’Shon Bernard come back in now?
It’s a big relief that Di’Shon Bernard is fit after a number of quality performances in recent weeks.
It was expected that Danny Rohl would have to make some big changes over the festive period due to the amount of games played in such a short space of time, though it would be intriguing to know if they could have nicked something against Norwich with their strongest team.
We can probably expect to see the likes of Josh Windass, Marvin Johnson and Bernard back in the team for this weekend’s clash with QPR, in what could prove to be a vital six-pointer.
The Owls sit seven points behind the London outfit and will be desperate to close the gap, though QPR have now lost only one game since Marti Cifuentes was appointed manager at the end of October (W3 D3).