Sheffield Wednesday’s win over Hull City in the Carabao Cup will have given Danny Rohl great faith.
The Owls received high praise for their dominating victory over Cardiff City at the weekend, before Rohl opted to put out a weaker side on Tuesday evening.
Despite making eleven changes, Sheffield Wednesday progressed to the second round, with a number of fringe players putting on stellar performances.
Charlie McNeill was the name in every fans’ mouth after he netted a brace inside ten minutes on his debut, despite only scoring three senior goals before his arrival at Hillsborough.
While the 20-year-old hit the headlines, another starting player has proven to the head coach that he can make a huge impact against Championship opposition.
Sean Fusire made his first competitive start in the FA Cup fourth round in back in February 2023, playing as a wing-back.
Over a year later, Fusire took up the No.6 role and pulled it off to perfection.
Sean Fusire made more tackles than anyone on the pitch
The midfielder won more tackles than any other player on the pitch (6), as well as making 49 touches, earning 81% passing accuracy, making one interception and one clearance.
Fusire was a brick wall in the middle of the park and certainly didn’t look out of place against a fairly strong Hull side.
The 19-year-old received keen praise for his display and was awarded an eight rating by The Star, with journalist Alex Miller writing: “Operated in midfield, a fairly new venture. He’s been highly rated at S6 for a long time.
“Put himself about and used the ball with maturity. His first start came as a flying wing-back, his second as an intelligent, combative number six. Made more tackles than anyone else on the pitch. Encouraging stuff.”
Does Rohl still need to sign another midfielder?
Rohl has previously suggested that Fusire could leave on loan, while he has also claimed that he is looking to bring in a new midfielder.
The teenager has surely given the German something to consider, because the performance he put on yesterday is definitely not one to forget.
At such a young age, he played with such confidence and really looked like he could develop into a fine player if he gets minutes for Wednesday.
Game-time is the key thing for him at this stage, and if Rohl believes that he can plug that gap that he was going to look to the transfer market for, then it is surely worth keeping him around.
If Rohl will buy a new midfielder anyway, then Fusiri needs a loan exit to make progress in his very promising career.