Sheffield Wednesday striker ‘a bit under-appreciated’ according to former Owl

Talbot came through the academy at Wednesday before writing his name into folklore as an 18-year-old at the Millennium Stadium in 2005, scoring a vital goal in the victory over Hartlepool United.

He’s a few years older than Smith, who became the first Owl to score 20+ goals in season for over a decade in 2022/23, but their paths did cross a few years ago when they spent the 2016/17 season together as teammates at Portsmouth.

“Smudga was a great kid,” Talbot told The Star after he’d shared a few moments with Smith following Wednesday’s 2-1 win at the Chesterfield legend’s testimonial. “He worked hard, and obviously he scored a lot of goals last season for Wednesday.. I think he might be a little bit under-appreciated for what he does - but he deserves every success that he gets. It was great to see him.

“The Championship is a bit of a different level, but hopefully he can bang the goals in.”

Smith will be part of the Owls squad that makes the trip to Spain this weekend for a week-long warm weather camp in Murcia, and he’ll no doubt be working hard so that he can try and hit the ground running as he returns to the Championship for the first time since the 2020/21 season when he was at Rotherham United.

The striker featured on Friday as Xisco’s side lost 3-0 to Burnley in a friendly.