Ex-Blade Ben Heneghan looking to settle in quickly at Sheffield Wednesday

Back in the Steel City, the former Sheffield United defender has almost six weeks to prepare for the big EFL kick-off at the end of next month.

It is a far cry from the difficult and traumatic experiences he had back in 2020.

That, of course, was a year when the sporting programme was subject to major disruption because of the Covid pandemic. It was particularly tough for players coming off contract like Heneghan, who left the Blades in the summer of 2020.

The Mancunian had spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Blackpool, only for League One to be suspended in March due to Covid. The following month, it was suspended indefinitely and in June, clubs voted to curtail the season with the final table calculated by points-per-game.

With lower-division clubs deprived of valuable cash due to the double whammy of games lost to Covid at the end of 19-20 and the next season being played behind closed doors, playing budgets were slashed as a consequence.

For players like Heneghan, it was the worst possible time to be out of contract. He would eventually join AFC Wimbledon in November with his debut coming almost eight-and-a-half months after his final loan appearance for Blackpool.

Small wonder he is happier about things these days.

Casting his mind back to 2020, Heneghan, who will officially join the Owls on July 1 when his Wimbledon deal expires, told The Yorkshire Post: “It was not nice at all, to be honest.

“There were deals that were going to go through and then they were cut off at the last second. It was frustrating; the season had started and I’d hoped to hit the ground running. Wimbledon came in and gave me the chance to play football and now I am here.

“When you are out of contract, you can think: ‘Why is it taking so long’ and you start to think: ‘Is it going to happen?’. Thankfully I got the move sorted here.

“It was halfway through November (when he joined Wimbledon) and a late one to be honest.

“It was tough with the Covid situation and you could not watch games, apart from the odd one. I was just watching Soccer Saturday and seeing the results coming in and the teams you could be potentially going to. It was a difficult experience all together.

“I ended up buying all the (gym) equipment for the garage, to be honest and I blasted that every day, twice a day to be fair, to keep on top of things.”

Heneghan’s resourcefulness is to be admired and points to a good professional with a good attitude and will have been something duly noted by his new manager Darren Moore.

A respected pro in his playing days, not to mention a formidable presence in the heart of defence for the likes of Bradford City, Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers, the Owls chief has had his eye on Heneghan for a fair while.

The Owls centre-half revealed: “I spoke with Darren previously as well a few years back when he was at Doncaster. But that did not work out. We have spoken in between and he’s a good character.”

As for his previous cross-city association with United, Heneghan is keen to draw a line under a testing part of his career which saw him make just one appearance for the club and spend two loan spells at Blackpool.

“I want to forget about that, it is in the past and my main focus now is with Sheffield Wednesday,” he added.

“I obviously did not play at Sheffield United. That time has gone now, but everywhere else, I have settled into teams and gone in and more or less played every game and I look forward to having that challenge here to play.”

Now 28, Heneghan was signed at Wimbledon by Dons legend and former Blades midfielder Glyn Hodges, who is now assisting Mark Hughes at Bradford City.

He earned a reputation at the Dons for being a no-nonsense, commanding centre-half, with his statistics particularly in terms of aerial duels won, clearances, blocks and interceptions having few peers at League One level, particularly throughout last season when he played 41 matches.

Heneghan, who started his career at Everton and then moved onto Stoke, said: “I will throw my head at anything and make block tackles and put my body on the line; whatever it takes to keep the ball out of the net – I will do it.

“And then get the ball down and play if I can and give it to our playmakers.

“I will go out and just want to put in the same performance, if not better next season. If I can help the team in any way, shape or form, throughout training, games and everything.”

On the influence of Hodges in his career, he continued: “I had a good relationship with him, to be honest. He went to Stoke and brought me in at Wimbledon and I spoke to him over the summer and stuff as well.”