Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has claimed that summer signing Mallik Wilks gives the League One club "a different attacking dimension" after he impressed in last night's Papa John's Trophy defeat to Burton Albion. 

Wednesday were beaten 3-2 by the Brewers at Hillsborough to leave them bottom of Northern Group H with no points from two games but there were some positives on the night.

Among them was the performance of Wilks, who made his starting debut and bagged his first goal for the club after 32 minutes.

The Owls pursued the 23-year-old throughout the summer and eventually got their man in August, signing him permanently from Hull City, but Moore has been patient with him so far – with the winger playing just 91 minutes of football prior to last night's game.

He is clearly a player that the manager is a huge fan of, however, as his comments after the defeat to Burton proved.

Moore told Yorkshire Live: "He was brilliant. I'm so pleased for him.

"We have been working and building him up and getting minutes into him.

"He was always going to get 90 minutes tonight. He will have definitely benefited from that.

"His link-up play was good and he has got the ability to go past people.

"He gives us a different attacking dimension."

Wilks' last two seasons in League One, for Hull and Doncaster Rovers, have seen him 33 goals and provide 16 assists in 90 appearances.

The Verdict 

Last night was ultimately a disappointment for Wednesday but Wilks' performance was an exciting one.

His record in League One made him an exciting addition for the Owls in the summer window but supporters have not yet really had a chance to see just what we can offer.

There were glimpses last night that the 23-year-old is starting to go through the gears at Hillsborough and Moore is right to highlight what he can offer to this Wednesday side.

The Owls boss is not short of quality players but Wilks would provide something different to his other forward options.