Sheffield Wednesday beat Blackpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Di’Shon Bernard scored his first goal for Sheffield Wednesday to send the Owls into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
So far, Danny Rohl’s side have beaten Hull City, Grimsby Town, and now Steve Bruce‘s Blackpool in the cup.
It’s proving to be a welcome break from Championship football which is proving to be less fruitful for the Owls.
Last time out, Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 with QPR in a game that frustrated, with QPR’s late equaliser deemed controversial by BBC pundit Rob Staton.
Next up, Wednesday travel to Luton Town in the Championship, in what is bound to be another tough assignment.
But both the QPR game and the Blackpool game has given Rohl some positives to build upon.
Notably in the Blackpool win, Owls academy man Gabriel Otegbayo made his first senior start for the club, starting alongside Bernard in the heart of defence.
Danny Rohl shares verdict on Gabriel Otegbayo after first Sheffield Wednesday start
Former Stoke City youngster Otegbayo, 18, is a towering centre-back, with the Irishman standing at 6ft 4ins.
And centre-back is a position that Sheffield Wednesday are light on, so Rohl will want to see Otegbayo potentially put himself into first-team contention soon.
He came on as a substitute vs Hull and played an hour vs Blackpool.
After the game at Bloomfield Road, Rohl told the club: “He [Otegbayo] trained very well in the last weeks. When I saw him for the first time I had a feeling that we can improve him.
“He has a good facility, a good body, he is talking and leads the group even though he is younger.
“He is calm and it was a good performance. There was just one moment in the first half, but in such a game this is normal.
“All in all, it was a good performance.”
Sheffield Wednesday’s next ‘spine’ is starting to take shape
Ever since arriving at Hillsborough, Rohl has often spoke about his want to promote more youngsters from the academy.
And he’s so far done that, as well as adding players to the club’s academy.
Now, Sheffield Wednesday have a string of youngsters coming through and making an impression, and they could make up the future spine of the team.
Pierce Charles in goal, Otegbayo at centre-back, Sean Fusire in midfield, and Bailey Cadamarteri up front.
Otegbayo is still very new in the first-team, but he showed some good signs against Blackpool, and Rohl seems impressed.
We could see a lot more of Otegbayo as the season goes on.