‘Our only threat’ - Tony Pulis singles out Sheffield Wednesday's Kadeem Harris for praise and explains decision to substitute Liam Shaw
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Harris was straight back into the Wednesday XI having completed his three-game suspension from earlier in the month, with Pulis using him a lot further up the field than he’s grown used to in Garry Monk’s 3-5-2.
The speedy winger – who struck one narrowly wide and had one cleared off the line – was Wednesday’s biggest threat to Stoke as he twice went close to giving the Owls the lead, and Pulis was full of praise for the wide man after the final whistle at Hillsborough over the weekend.
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Hide AdHe told the media, “When you think that was his first game for a few weeks… He, without being disrespectful to anybody else, he looked like our only threat at times.
“He’s taken us down the pitch, he’s been a threat, and he was probably the one threat that Michael (O’Neill) will have been worried about during the game.”
There were some eyebrows raised with Pulis’ decision to start young Liam Shaw in the heart of the Wednesday midfield alongside Massimo Luongo, and while he was brought off at half time, the manager says it was purely because he was worried about him being on a yellow card given the club’s problem with red cards and dismissals in recent weeks.
He explained, “I took him off because I was a little bit concerned because he’d been booked… It only takes on rash challenge from a youngster, and we need to be playing another game with 10 men - especially in this area.”
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Hide AdIt remains to be seen how Pulis will set up against a Reading side that are among the top scorers in the Championship this season, especially given the fact that Dominic Iorfa may be able to sneak himself back in contention after missing the last couple of games.
The Owls face the Royals at 7.45pm on Wednesday night at Hillsborough as they play their first of eight games in December.