Darren Moore reiterated his hopes for Burnley not to recall goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell in January with the Northern Irishman key to the club's promotion ambitions this season.

Despite strong competition from Joe Wildsmith as backup glovesman, Peacock-Farrell has asserted himself as a crucial squad member and his elite goalkeeping ability for the level will stand Sheffield Wednesday in good stead in hoping to crack the top six in the coming months.

Darren Moore has utilised the loan market and his contacts very well in the last few years when managing West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster Rovers and now Wednesday. The manager explained the situation between the Owls and Peacock-Farrell's parent club in approaching Burnley's recall clause in January, when he spoke to YorkshireLive.

He said: "Truth be known, we’ll have a chat with them (Burnley) in terms of where we feel he is. We’ve not had that chat yet, but we will be doing to see if there’s something they want to continue into the second half of the season."

Wildsmith is an excellent backup goalkeeper and performed admirably in the Championship for the Owls in years gone by.

As a result, Wednesday would be okay if Peacock-Farrell was recalled, but in the third tier where the marginal gains can make such a huge difference, the Owls will be desperate for Sean Dyche to allow his third choice stopper to stay for the second half of the season.

 

 

The Verdict

Peacock-Farrell has experienced some ups and downs in an Owls shirt this season, and grants Wildsmith an opportunity when on international duty with Northern Ireland, but has established himself as one of the best keepers in League One.

Wednesday have been very solid defensively for the vast majority of the campaign and the reliability Peacock-Farrell offers between the sticks has had a positive influence on the confidence of the defenders playing in front of him.

Moore has worked wonders with the loan market in recent years and now with the added pull of a club the size of Sheffield Wednesday, he will be confident of achieving promotion to the Championship either this or next season.