Otsemobor aiming to put an end to nightmare

The former Liverpool defender has been sidelined with a calf injury for the majority of the last four months but returned to action as substitute in the midweek defeat against Brentford.

According to Megson, the right-back should be playing at higher level but, with eight games of the season to play, the Owls are only four points clear of the relegation zone and looking at the possibility of life in League Two for the first time in history.

Otsemobor, who joined the Owls after being released by Southampton last summer, admits that his first season at Hillsborough has been a ‘nightmare’. However, the 28-year-old feels his injury problems are now a thing of the past and is keen to be involved in tomorrow’s home game against Colchester United.

“I didn’t think I would get a game so soon because I’d been out for a long time and missed a lot of games but I was delighted to play on Tuesday,” he said.

“This season has been a nightmare with the injuries but now I am fit and I want to play.”

Otsemobor, who played four times for Liverpool in the Premier League, spent three years of his career at Norwich City and was relegated from the Championship with the Canaries in 2009.

He is adamant that the Owls have a better chance of avoiding the drop because they have more players on long-term contracts and more who care about maintaining their club’s league status.

“When I was at Norwich, we had a lot of loanees and young players and it didn’t really affect them if we got relegated,” he said. “There were only three or four contracted players and the rest went back to their parent clubs that summer. I know we have a few loan signings but there are more contracted here and who are playing for a future next season.”

The Owls fielded four loan players against Brentford – Danny Batth, Rob Jones, Joey O’Brien, and Isaiah Osbourne – with a fifth on the bench (goalkeeper Lee Nicholls) and a sixth out in the cold, striker Neil Mellor. Jones is a major doubt for tomorrow’s game after suffering concussion against Brentford but centre-back Reda Johnson is a possible replacement after returning from international duty with Benin.

Megson says Johnson was unhappy with the organisation of the game and may yet re-think his involvement in international football. “He thought he was playing on Friday, the (opponents) Ivory Coast thought they were playing on Saturday, and they put the jumpers down and played on Sunday!” said Megson.