Sheffield Wednesday put on a mixed bag of performances as they progressed to the Carabao Cup third round.
The Owls had to fight back after falling behind against Grimsby Town last night, before goals from Ike Ugbo, Jamal Lowe, Callum Paterson (2) and Pol Valentin secured the win.
Danny Rohl opted against changing his full eleven for Sheffield Wednesday’s trip to Blundell Park, but gave a number of fringe players the opportunity to force their way into his plans.
Nathaniel Chalobah made his debut after returning to full fitness, while the likes of Marvin Johnson, Olaf Kobacki and Charlie McNeill were handed starts after featuring in the first round clash with Hull City.
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Charlie McNeill endures ‘tricky’ second start
The latter’s performance against the Tigers got fans talking as he scored a brace inside ten minutes.
However, last night’s display suggests that perhaps they were getting too carried away with McNeill.
The 20-year-old is yet to feature in the Championship, but was awarded a place in the starting line-up against Grimsby last night.
McNeill certainly didn’t do himself any favours though, with The Star criticising his ‘sloppy’ game.
Journalist Alex Miller gave him a five rating and wrote: “Harried, worked hard, lead the press at times. Sloppy in moments and decision making wasn’t always on point. Off at half-time after a tricky outing – will have taken an awful lot from it.”
McNeill’s stats didn’t help him out either. The forward had zero shots, zero dribbles, only 20 touches, five passes, zero crosses, two fouls and lost possession 11 times.
Do Sheffield Wednesday now need to sign another striker?
This may have been a bit more understandable if the youngster had been chucked in at the deep end in the Championship, but he was actually coming up against a League Two side.
He was facing a backline who had conceded five goals to the rest of the team, so why McNeill looked a completely different player to the Hull clash is uncertain.
The problem is that he did perform so brilliantly against the Tigers – who are pretty strong opposition compared to his time with Manchester United U21s.
It would appear the issue with McNeill is going to be consistency, and while Rohl can’t have extremely high expectations on him in his introduction to senior football, it will be a concern if he was planning on bringing him into the Championship.
Wednesday are yet to bring in another striker if they were planning to, while they could still sell Wrexham-linked Michael Smith.
Bailey Cadamarteri is also off to Lincoln City on loan, while the Owls are open to selling Callum Paterson.
If McNeil was left as the second-choice striker behind Ugbo, then his performance against Grimsby could really worry Rohl and will perhaps push him to sign another No.9.