New Sheffield Wednesday signing Connor Wickham has outlined that when he signed for the club, he was particularly keen to link-up with former Sunderland teammate Steven Fletcher.

Late into deadline day, the Owls announced the signing of Connor Wickham on a season-long loan from Crystal Palace after seemingly chasing him throughout the window to fill the void left by the knee injury to Steven Fletcher.

The Scottish international is still Wednesday’s top scorer this season despite not playing since the FA Cup Third Round win over Brighton just after the New Year, as he stands on 12 goals so far.

Speaking to the Sheffield Star, Wickham revealed that while he was already sold on rejoining Wednesday after previously joining from Sunderland on-loan in the 2013/14 season, he was particularly interested in linking up with former Black Cats teammate Steven Fletcher. He had this to say on the reunion: "I've known Fletch for a number of years now - we were at Sunderland together.

"We’ve kind of stayed in contact since we left.

"We’re good friends so I don’t want to say I’m a direct replacement for Fletch.

"We’ve got a great relationship on the pitch and off the pitch so we’ll see what the manager’s ideas are when Fletch is back.

"If we can get on the pitch at the same time then hopefully we can recreate the partnership we had at Sunderland."

Wickham was recalled from a loan at Leeds United in the same season he was last at Hillsborough to help fire the Black Cats to Premier League safety, including an impressive brace at the Etihad Stadium against Champions-elect Manchester City.

Both players will be hoping that they can rekindle similar form late in the season to help revitalise a massively faltering play-off push.

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The verdict

The Owls will be hoping that they can help this pair recapture the form that saw them help keep Sunderland in the Premier League back in those days.

Fletcher looks set for an early return at the beginning of March which will be a massive boost for the whole squad and could see the confidence of Wickham boost to see an old friend return.

Up next is a clash with Luton where Wickham is most likely to lead the line on his own while Fletcher recovers.

It hasn’t been the most prolific campaign for the strikers lower down in Wednesday’s pecking order, and they could be counting on the Palace forward to hit form, and soon.