Sheffield Wednesday may need squad leeway after Di'Shon Bernard blow with uncertainty over Barry Bannan

The post-deadline signing of Ryo Hatsuse took the Owls to the maximum 25 senior players that can be registered for the second half of the season but when the list was sent to the Football League, the injured Akin Famewo and Dominic Iorfa were missing, along with third-choice goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

They now have scope to add a free agent centre-back after Bernard picked up a season-ending injury.

The 24-year-old ex-Hull City loanee is due to have knee surgery on Thursday after an injury in Saturday's 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion.

"Dish is out of the season now, a big injury, it looks like six months," revealed manager Danny Rohl after the 1-0 midweek win at Swansea City. "He will have surgery.

“It’s very hard and also very sad. Straight after the game I said I did not have a good feeling.

“We have to step up with all the other players around us.

“I cross my fingers for a good surgery and then a good recovery.”

The injuries to Famewo and Iorfa leave Michael Ihiekwe as the last senior specialist at centre-back.

Famewo has made his first steps back in training after October's muscle injury and in early January the expectation was for Iorfa's to be an eight-week lay-off. They – like Hamer – can be added at any time up to the final deadline of March 27 (5pm). So can out-of-contract players like Hatsuse signed.

Bernard cannot be removed to make way for anyone.

Gabriel Otegbayo is also a central defender by trade, but the 20-year-old has only one league start.

Left-back Max Lowe has adapted well to playing at centre-back this season, Liam Palmer and right-back Yan Valery are comfortable there.

Shea Charles has filled in during games, and Marvin Johnson was used as a third centre-back under Darren Moore. The versatile Callum Paterson can also play there.

Wednesday seem very uncertain about the extent of captain Bannan's injury, which has kept him out of the last two matches.

His attempts to play through the unspecified problem have backfired but Rohl was unsure how long he will be out for.

“It could be seven days, it could be six weeks, four weeks," he said. "We have to look how the reaction is. It is about the load management, controlling the reaction.

“In the QPR game he had a problem. We tried to manage it during the week and then after the Luton game he was not able to walk for three days.

“We contacted specialists, we made scans, now we manage him and we have to find the treatments.

"If the pain comes back we have to stop it again.”

Rohl felt Wednesday’s victory at Swansea City was “fully deserved”.

"Especially second half we had a lot of good pressing moments,” he said. “We adjusted things in the half-time break, some small things, and it worked well with a lot of good ball-winning situations.

“I think in the game-management side, we learned from the West Brom game.”