Sheffield Wednesday ‘need to freshen up’ – defender hopes new signings can help Owls

Ihiekwe returned at the end of the 2022/23 campaign to play a bit part in the Owls’ promotion out of League One, and now – as they prepare to navigate the Championship – he admits that he’s hoping to see the core of the squad added to in the coming weeks.

“I think every club will be thinking the same,” Ihiekwe replied when asked about the importance of new faces. “You always need to freshen up the squad - especially when you’ve got promoted into a stronger league. Obviously we want to take the positives that we had from last season, and the team bonding with the core of the squad, but it’s always important to try and strengthen - hopefully we can do that.

“Everyone who’s here now has got experience in the Championship, and it’s important to use that, but hopefully we can also bring in a few players that can help make a difference.”

‘Icky’ did speak, though, of how pleased he was to see Reece James return and Marvin Johnson extend his stay, reiterating once more how much the positivity from last season can benefit their 2023/24 campaign.

“It’s brilliant,” he said. “It shows that the lads obviously want to be at the club and part of this journey that we’re on. I think they both had really good seasons last season, so it was pleasing when they signed… They were two massive positives from last season, and hopefully we can build on that with the other players we bring in.”

The Owls have just a few days now until they head away to Spain for a preseason camp where they will face at least one Spanish opponent, and the hope will be that they can get at least a few new signings through the door before they get on the plane to Murcia on Saturday.

Tomorrow they will play their second preseason friendly, a game against Chesterfield that will also act as Drew Talbot’s testimonial game.