Sheffield Wednesday: Chris lines up FA Cup clash with Bothroyd
Together again: Chris Lines and Jay Bothroyd played for the Owls
SHEFFIELD Wednesday may have missed out on an FA Cup clash with Jay Bothroyd - but Chris Lines has not.
The midfield player’s loan move to MK Dons pits him against former Owls loan forward Bothroyd in the fourth-round tie at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Wednesday would have played Harry Redknapp’s outfit if they had beaten Dons in the third round.
As the Owls are out of the Cup there is no question of Lines not being allowed to play for Dons in the competition.
He is not cup-tied, as he did not figure in either of Wedndesday’s matches against Karl Robinson’s side.
Bothroyd, who did not have the best of fortunes in his loan spell at Hillsborough, scored in QPR’s 1-0 replay victory at West Brom on the same evening that Wednesday were going out 2-0 at MK Dons.
Lines and Bothroyd started one game together in the Wednesday team - they both played for 90 minutes in November’s 4-1 home defeat by Watford, in which Bothroyd suffered the ankle injury that meant it was to be his last game for the club before his exit this month.
In the match before that, Lines made his comeback from a serious groin injury to get his first outing of the season, as a 66th minute sub in the 2-0 defeat by Leicester. Bothroyd was taken off two minutes later.
The Owls midfield player has another left year on his contract so it cannot be assumed that he has played his last game for the club.
There is no suggestion that there are immediate plans for his loan move to Dons to be followed by a full transfer.
Wednesday and the player will see it primarily as an opportunity for him to get games, and the end of the season will be the time for taking stock.
Despite his exit, Dave Jones already has midfield options: David Prutton and Giles Coke, whose contracts run out this summer; Rhys McCabe, Paul Corry and Nejc Pecnik.
And it will be no surprise if the Owls manager, always looking to improve his side, brings in another midfield player this month.
The departures of Lines and Daniel Jones, who left for Port Vale, may well not be the only ones as Jones bids to reduce his squad before he can add to it.
Jones could make his Vale debut at Wimbledon tonight, weather permitting. He was in the squad before last weekend but the game against Bradford was called off.
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Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 21 May 2013
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