Dave Challinor admitted he had low expectations of Sheffield Wednesday's final group match of the Football League Trophy group stage, but he was able to use it to widen his knowledge of the squad he has inherited.

All that was up for grabs between the Owls and Accrington Stanley on Tuesday was which team would have a home tie in the last-32 as group winners, and it was the League Two side who took it with a 4-0 win.

Wednesday used the opportunity to protect senior players, having a debut to Louis Poland and substitute James Kay, plus a first start to Denny Oliver.

It showed in a disjointed performance in only Challinor's second game in charge, the first being Sunday's FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two Oldham Athletic.

"I suppose it's what I expected really, the one thing it has done it means I've seen pretty much every player over the time I've been at the club in terms of first-team fixtures, youth-team fixtures, and a mixture today," he said. "But understanding of where priorities were and what was most important.

"Some young players have made their debuts and it was a really proud moment for them and things that they'll remember.

"Obviously the challenges which there's going to be but for all of them they should be better for the experience whether it's good or bad and should stand them in good stead hopefully moving forward on the start of their journeys."

With only 5,472 in attendance at Hillsborough on a cold night and no real jeopardy, the match was played in a subdued atmosphere.

LEARNING: New Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Challinor, in the foreground (Image: Steve Ellis)

placeholder image — LEARNING: New Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Challinor, in the foreground (Image: Steve Ellis)

"It's tough because it almost becomes like a pre-season game really where you're expecting there to be little cohesion because you're chucking a group together that don't train together on separate sites, put together really last minute in terms of what it looked like," said Challinor. "It was probably making decisions on some players even within the group we've got whether they're able and some injuries.

"We had to make structured substitutions so I went into it not expecting loads, understanding what it would look like and probably you have to get yourself in that headspace as early as possible so as not to become frustrated because young players especially are going to make mistakes. Some of the more senior ones in terms of minutes and football are still very young and still make mistakes.

"That was probably what the game looked like from our perspective. To run through a few that may or may not be on the fringes of the first team."

One big plus for George Brown was his first appearance of an injury-hit 2026, leading the line before making way at half-time.

DEBUT: James Kay (left) (Image: Steve Ellis)

"It was a tough comeback for him because an experienced centre-half who's been round the block and we played pretty direct into him.

"We told Connal (Trueman, the goalkeeper) if it was on to play, play, but can we play over, especially for the young lads early on and try and get them a feel. George had a right fight on his hands but he's got through 45 minutes which is brilliant."

Sean Fusire captained the side from right wing-back, but will miss Saturday's League One game at home to Plymouth Argyle on international duty with Zimbabwe.

"He hasn't got the vaccinations to go to Equatorial Guinea," where Zimbabwe play on Thursday. "The plan is I think he travels tomorrow (Thursday) for the game on Sunday (the reverse fixture in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers), and Kieran (Morrison) and Jordi (Liongola) are away as well."