Cambridge v Sheffield Wednesday: Carvalhal refuses to bow to '˜impossible' demand

Sheffield Wednesday's head coach Carlos Carvalhal.

The Owls head to Cambridge United for their first outing in a competition that last season brought victories over Arsenal and Newcastle United en route to a quarter-final exit at Stoke City.

Those victories over the Premier League duo helped fuel the belief at Hillsborough that eventually took the club to within 90 minutes of a return to the elite.

Despite that, Carvalhal admits that tonight’s visit to Cambridge United, coming so soon after the Villa win, makes life difficult.

“It is impossible to play on Sunday and Tuesday,” said the Portuguese. “The players were totally dead after playing 90 minutes, dead completely. Not just my players but all players.

“Of course, we will try to win in the Cup but we will do that with the players in the squad who didn’t participate against Aston Villa. I will not take risks of losing players for two or three months.

“The players are not ready to play again on Tuesday. Who put the competition to play on a Tuesday after a Sunday game? If it was Wednesday, we would have a better chance. That is the reality.

“We have just had the first game of the season. You are not totally ready for the competition at this stage. It is normal for them to be more tired after the first game than after four or five games.

“No-one will recover between Sunday and Tuesday. It is impossible. I am sure of that.”

Steven Fletcher would have definitely missed tonight’s tie regardless of Carvalhal’s desire not to place too many demands on his squad after suffering a nasty head wound against Villa that required ten stitches.

“Our squad is not ready at this moment to play in two or three competitions,” added the Wednesday chief. “We have a good squad to start the Championship but to play in two or three at the moment would be difficult.

“I must think about that. We don’t have the squad to play, if I put the players to play on Tuesday (who played against Villa) maybe we lose those players for one month or two.”

Last six games: Cambridge United DWWDDD, Sheffield Wednesday WLWDLW.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).

Last time: Cambridge United 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1; September 22, 1995; League Cup.