Jackson Irvine not on Sheffield Wednesday radar says manager Garry Monk

Sheffield Wednesday do not have any “serious interest” in former Hull City midfielder Jackson Irvine, according to Garry Monk.
FREE AGENT: Jackson Irvine was released by Hull City in the summerFREE AGENT: Jackson Irvine was released by Hull City in the summer
FREE AGENT: Jackson Irvine was released by Hull City in the summer

As a free agent, the Australian international is able to sign for clubs even now the transfer window has passed, and the Owls had been linked with him, but Monk has played down such talk.

“There's always paper talk!” he chuckled ahead of Saturday's Championship visit of Luton Town. “There's nothing serious or imminent. We have to keep our eye on the market, not just now but moving forward, but there's no serious interest at this moment in time.

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“Like every club you always keep an eye on that market and see what's available but nothing has stood out at the moment.”

Irvine left Hull in June after three years in East Yorkshire when the Tigers were unable to agree a short-term contract extension with the 27-year-old.

The extension to the English season caused problems for clubs, with contracts typically running until the end of June, but the season stretching into mid-July. As Wednesday did with some of their players in the same situation, the Tigers decided not to bring Irvine back for the first couple of weeks of the restarted season if he was not going to see it out. The loss of his experience did not help as they finished bottom of the Championship.

Monk is hoping at least some from Tom Lees, Dominic Iorfa and Izzy Brown might be in contention to freshen the squad against Luton after injury, but Massimo Luongo is expected to be out for at least another week with a knee injury.

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“(There are) no injuries from the last game (a 2-1 defeat at home to Brentford),” confirmed Monk. “Tom, Dom and Izzy are back out on the training pitches so we're trying to give them as much time as possible to see (if they can play).

“In terms of Massimo, his knee's still quite swollen so he won't be available for the weekend. With the others it's about assessing how fit they are, missing quite a bit of the training.

“The main point is we're moving in the right direction. It won't be long before we have those guys fully fit and ready but it's just assessing the situation, seeing how they feel and if there are any reactions.

“They've been back out on the pitches in the last few days.

“It's a big shame because Massimo's been one of our most consistent performers so far. It's a very unfortunate one that's happened in a game, a contact injury. It's quite a big swelling around the knee from hyper-extending his knee. Those injuries tend to be seven to ten days. He won't be available for the weekend, highly likely not the midweek game (at Rotherham United), possibly for the next weekend (at Wycombe Wanderers) or the following week.”

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Centre-back Chey Dunkley, who joined as a free agent in the summer still recovering from a broken leg, is making progress in his rehabilitation, and the trip to Preston North End on November 21 looks the most likely target for his belated Owls debut.

“Chey's back out on the pitches as well. He's been out for a long time and he's progressing maybe slightly behind them in terms of his level of fitness but he's doing really well. We always knew where he's been at and it was about trying to get him to the right level of fitness heading to be available after the international break coming.

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