It never rains, it pours for Sheffield Wednesday, and the walls are closing in on the club’s time as a Championship club.
The rest of the 2025/26 campaign is all about pride, with Wednesday losing points after the decision made by Dejphon Chansiri to place the club into administration.
In midweek, the Owls were dogged and determined in a 1-0 defeat to Millwall and on Saturday at home to Preston, Wednesday were desperately unfortunate not to get anything for their efforts.
Charlie McNeill scored twice and missed a second-half penalty as Wednesday slipped to a 3-2 defeat at Hillsborough and despite the defeat, there were still some reasons to be cheerful.
Yan Valery shines for Sheffield Wednesday despite defeat
Henrik Pedersen was forced into some changes for this game, with Dominic Iorfa and Max Lowe both ruled out ahead of the latest Championship game.
Iorfa collected a fifth yellow card of the season against Millwall and will be back for the trip to Blackburn next Saturday, whilst Lowe had a tight hamstring that the head coach chose to monitor.
That meant that Pedersen chose to play Valery as a left-sided central defender, despite the fact that he’s been operating as a number six more often than not this season.
Valery was given praise from the Sheffield Star for his efforts, with the player receiving a ‘pretty tidy’ verdict and scoring 7/10 in their player ratings compilation.
The Tunisian signed for Wednesday for an undisclosed fee, and ultimately, he’s now showcased that he’s capable of playing wherever the Owls need him to this season.
Yan Valery stats vs Preston North End
The 26-year-old slotted in quite nicely as part of the back three that Pedersen has showcased he likes to deploy this season.
He didn’t look out of place and coped well for large parts of the game with the threat that Preston possessed going forward.
Valery’s showing will now have given some food for thought to Pedersen, and should Lowe not make the trip to Blackburn, the position is surely his to lose.
Wednesday have to keep fighting and as an experienced performer, Valery must now maintain this good form as the Owls go searching for a badly-needed victory.