Sheffield Wednesday welcome Watford in the Championship tonight, and Dany Rohl may well be tempted to hand a full debut to this 19-year-old.
Sheffield Wednesday see Watford visit Hillsborough tonight.
Rohl‘s side are looking to avoid a third-straight defeat in the Championship but it’ll be a tall order against a Watford side who’ve lost just one of their last nine in all competitions.
Valerien Ismael’s side sit in 10th place of the table compared to Wednesday in 23rd, with six points now the gap to safety after QPR and Huddersfield Town drew last weekend.
Tonight’s game is another difficult one. But Rohl might have good reason to hand a full league debut to youngster Gui Siqueira; he’s featured in both FA Cup clashes this month and was on the bench for several league games before that.
Although a start tonight would be a huge step up, here’s why it might be a shrewd move…
Pol Valentin receiving mixed reviews
Pol Valentin is a well-liked member of the team, being one of the many to show improvements under Rohl.
But Spaniard has been a bit hit and miss in recent performances at right-back; he’s started five of the last six with the last four at right-back, but in the last outing vs Coventry he was particularly quiet.
He seemed to lack a bit of urgency in the last outing and that might suggest that a rest is needed, handing Rohl the ideal opportunity to give Siqueira his full debut for the Owls.
Next season’s right-back is undecided
As it stands, Valentin is Rohl’s only right-back registered beyond this season, with Liam Palmer out of contract along with Di’Shon Bernard.
Bernard will surely be handed a new deal, but he’s best deployed at centre-back, so Rohl will surely have an eye on problem positions opening up after the end of this season.
But giving Siqueira game time now could ready him for his first full season next time round where he could yet be fighting with Valentin for the starting spot.
Baptism of fire can often work
Throwing Siqueira into the XI for tonight’s game would certainly be a risk. But Rohl recently had success with Bailey Cadamarteri and he was handed his very first start against league leaders Leicester City.
He’s quickly become an important first-team player and so Rohl may well have the same thinking here with Siqueira.
Watford are a good team in good form and for Siqueira, who we’re yet to see too much off, it would definitely be a tough task.
But prevailing would bring him right into the first-team picture.