With Di'Shon Bernard set to return from a 19-month knee injury for the under-21s on Sunday, Sheffield Wednesday are confident enough in their defensive resources to have sent 19-year-old Joe Emery on loan.

Manchester United product Bernard has not played since February 2025, but is due to play 45 minutes for the under-21s at home to Charlton Athletic.

Liam Cooper, Ricardo Santos and Sil Swinkels are being managed ahead of Saturday's League One game at home to Wigan Athletic, but manager Henrik Pedersen feels his stable of centre-backs is in a good place.

Cooper has made a quick recovery after going off injured during last Saturday's interval at Peterborough United.

INJURY TORMENT: Sheffield Wednesday's Di'Shon Bernard (left) (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

placeholder image — INJURY TORMENT: Sheffield Wednesday's Di'Shon Bernard (left) (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

"He looks fresh, he looks good, he looks happy," said Pedersen, who has been handed an improved contract this week.

"He's not normal – in a very good way. His mentality is amazing. He's a strong character."

But at 35, the Hull-born defender must be managed carefully.

"Sometimes for the way we are playing, for how much he's training, how he's training and when, we have to manage him to have him in as many games as possible," acknowledged Pedersen.

He was more coy about whether Santos will make a fourth Owls appearance, having come close to featuring at London Road. Swinkels will step up training next week after a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, they have loaned 19-year-old centre-back Joe Emery to Conference North South Shields for 28 days.

"He will develop, but in a longer period training without games, it's not good for any young player," argued Pedersen.

"Like we take loan players to us, it is natural we send some players on loan. Dev (Moses) also went on loan (at Buxton), and he needs to play a minimum of two games a week, sometimes three."