Sam Hutchinson: Sheffield Wednesday boss discusses fan favourite’s departure after joining Reading

It was confirmed recently that the Owls fan favourite, who was not offered a new contract at Hillsborough this summer, has penned a deal at Reading in the Championship – a division above where Wednesday will be playing their football next season.

The 32-year-old was a key figure as Moore’s side went close to promotion in 2021/22, and many were shocked to see him depart at the end of the season – and his former manager says they wish him well.

“I think for Sam, it’s tremendous,” he told Radio Sheffield in an interview. “He’s back down south near his family, and he’s now got the ability where he’s like 20 minutes from home. We wish Sam and his family all the very, very best in terms of going forward - because he was a wonderful servant for the football club.”

But his exit won’t be lingered on by Moore, who says that the Owls have the personalities in the side to replace ‘Hutch’ for the season ahead.

He went on to say, “Here at Wednesday we have to keep moving forward, and when you talk about leaders in the team, there are some wonderful leaders.

“I can tell you that Will Vaulks is a wonderful leader, Stockdale is a leader, Michael Ihiekwe is a leader, Smithy is a leader - I could go on…”

Wednesday will get their new campaign up and running this weekend when they take on Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.

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