Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has revealed recent conversations he has had with Charlie McNeill.
The Owls are hoping to tally a second successive win on the road as they travel to Pride Park to face Derby County.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl will be expecting that his side come away with a win, despite the uncertainty over whether attacking pair Ike Ugbo and Josh Windass will be involved, with him suggesting that it could be a ‘risk’ to include the former of which.
As a result of the potential absentees within the squad, the Sheffield Wednesday boss will consider his options, with Michael Smith almost certain to get a nod to lead the line after his recent top form.
However, one man who is unlikely to be involved in any fashion is Charlie McNeill, whose absence has led to Rohl being questioned in regards to the youngster.
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Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl reveals conversation with Charlie McNeill
Owls boss Rohl has not often handed the favour of leading the line to McNeill, with him starting just two games, which were both in the EFL Cup.
He is yet to be handed a single minute of action in the Championship, and as a result there have been some questions delivered towards Rohl about the former Man United attacker.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Rohl said: “In the last weeks he was sometimes in the squad, sometimes not. And I think it was a conversation with Charlie, I said, ‘At the moment, if you are in the squad then it’s the next small step, because then you trained good, I see this’.
“Then it’s a little bit hard who starts up front. This also impacts who is then on my bench. Of course, we are not ‘happy happy’ at the moment, because we want to improve so that he gets more minutes.
“At the moment, I can’t guarantee him this. But I see in his development as a person, a good step. I see that he works very hard every day. It’s not like that he is too disappointed and he is negative, no, he is hard-working.
“We can look in January. He is fit, he can play minutes, then we will see what makes sense.”
Rohl concluded: “In January, it’s a topic where we sit together, and then hopefully we make the best decision for everybody.”
Charlie McNeill needs January loan to revive Sheffield Wednesday career
There was plenty of uncertainty when McNeill arrived in regards to what sort of fashion he would be involved at Sheffield Wednesday, and whether he would notch much first team action.
As it has been for the past few weeks, it is now evidently clear that Rohl could very easily sanction a loan move for the youngster in January, and that is something that would certainly benefit the youngster.
He has shown glimpses of quality in the EFL Cup, but at the end of the day, he must really lack that Championship quality if he isn’t in the conversation to be an option up top, especially with the poor form that Ugbo and Jamal Lowe are in, and that means that the writing is on the wall that a loan move would be best for him.