Sheffield Wednesday: There will be more new faces in the door at Middlewood Road this season – but not just yet

The club’s under-23 side is undertaking a major revamp at current, with a number of players including sometime first team inclusions Josh Render, Charles Hagan and Liam Waldock having been told they can move on at the end of their contracts.

Several of the under-18s have made the step up to the team above and a handful of trialists have featured at Middlewood Road in recent weeks including 18-year-old Aberdeen playmaker Jack MacIver.

Speaking to The Star, Owls first team boss Darren Moore said no decision had been made on MacIver and that while a number of new faces will be welcomed to the club to show what they can do in the coming weeks, the focus for now is giving that platform to their under-18s.

“It’s great for Neil Thompson to see the players step in and perform and it’s important for the players to see what level they’re expected to perform at,” he said.

“They’re going full-tilt every week and that aids their development because they’re with better players and stronger players and even sometimes senior players.

“That’s what we’re focusing on,” he continued.

“With regard to trialists, we’ve not really switched our focus and attention onto that just yet but over the coming weeks we’ll have some new trialists in ourselves.

“We’ll take a good look and think about whether we feel they’re good enough to make an impact and see if there’s a pathway to get towards our first team.”