Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has revealed that George Byers was withdrawn from yesterday's showdown with Portsmouth as a precautionary measure.

Byers had treatment on an issue that he sustained in this clash and briefly returned to the field before going down again.

Moore opted to bring on Fisayo Dele-Bashiru as Byers' replacement in the 35th minute of this fixture.

Before Byers was substituted, the Owls opened the scoring at Fratton Park thanks to a strike from Josh Windass.

Windass slotted an effort past Portsmouth goalkeeper Matt Macey after latching onto Michael Smith's flick-on.

Wednesday were reduced to ten men following the break as Dominic Iorfa was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Connor Ogilvie.

The Owls produced a defiant defensive display in the absence of Iorfa as they prevented Pompey from levelling proceedings.

As a result of their 1-0 victory over Portsmouth, Wednesday moved three points clear of their nearest challengers Plymouth Argyle in the League One standings.

Following this clash, Moore issued an update on Byers.

Speaking to The Star, the Owls boss said: "It was tightness… I’ll give it a couple of days, but yeah it was a tightness and he just couldn’t get it going… It’s more precaution than anything really, so we took him off.

"I thought there were a lot of players slipping over and everything.
"It’s one of a few pitches that’s not Desso, and whether that’s played or not with the tightness we’ll have a look."

 

 

The Verdict

While it is important to note that the full extent of Byers' issue has yet to be revealed, this is still a relatively encouraging update as he has seemingly avoided serious injury.

The midfielder has established himself as a key player for Wednesday since joining the club in 2021 and thus Moore will be hoping to turn to him for inspiration during the closing stages of the season.

In the 24 league appearances that he has made this season, Byers has managed to provide nine direct goal contributions and is currently averaging an impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.04 at this level.

Having demonstrated on numerous occasions that he is capable of making a positive impact for Wednesday, the 26-year-old will unquestionably be confident in his ability to help the club achieve promotion to the Championship later this year by delivering the goods on a consistent basis.