Lewis Wing has had a difficult last few seasons in the EFL and the 2021/22 campaign is not panning out as planned either.

The dynamic central midfielder is on a season-long loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Middlesbrough but has recently fallen out of favour amidst intense competition for places at Hillsborough Stadium

The 26-year-old has made 12 starts in the league this season but has not played a minute of the Owls' last three.

Darren Moore explained where Wing is going wrong when he spoke to TeessideLive.

He said: "He’s trying so hard to score, and we’re trying to get him playing his normal game and not worry so much about getting on the scoresheet.

"I think he feels that when he doesn’t score, he’s not contributing, but I’ve told him that - while the game is about scoring goals - there’s so much more to him.

"It’s one of them where I think he’s trying too hard… He wants to do well for Wednesday."

Wing has had an impressive goalscoring record in recent years and has built a reputation on strikes from long range, however there are a lot more facets to a central midfielders game and that is where Barry Bannan and Massimo Luongo have been able to assert themselves in Darren Moore's starting XI.

The Verdict

Wing was keen to stay in the Championship or at a big club this summer and he definitely found that in Sheffield Wednesday. However, with just one year left on his contract at Teesside it might have been wiser from a development point of view to go somewhere he may have earned more consistent first team action.

The expectations are high at Sheffield Wednesday this season, intensified by a positive summer transfer window and therefore Moore does not have the luxury of allowing Wing to keep his place in the side through a dip in form. Time will tell if Wing will be able to come out the other side of this as he approaches a crossroads in his career.