Sheffield Wednesday's young stars offer a beacon of hope through Carabao Cup exploits
The League Cup has been a beacon of hope for Sheffield Wednesday. On Tuesday the light went out.
To see the Kop closed and the North Stand only populated by Grimsby Town fans spilling over from the Leppings Lane end, to see social media raging at “scabs” and both Owls wing-backs injured in the first half, you might think Wednesday are better off out of it. You might be right.
Even the dyed-in-the-wool Miller managing Grimsby, David Artell, felt sorry for them.
But whilst the seniors lurch from one Championship beating to another, the cup offered optimism. Not that the Owls would emulate Big Ron Atkinson's 1991 team and lift the three-handled trophy, obviously.
The hope came from seeing those young players not yet flogged off by Del Chansiri tested in men's football.
They refused to lose to Bolton Wanderers, and wanted it more than Leeds United, knocking both out on penalties.
It came to a halt on Tuesday as League Two Grimsby had too much for what will be painted as a Championship side but was nothing of the sort.
The game had little to recommend it beyond Tyrell Warren's tackle to stop George Brown finishing a flowing Owlets move. It meant Christy Pym did not make a serious save all night.
Jaze Kabia headed a corner in off team-mate Cameron McJannet for a 1-0 away win.
Henrik Pedersen can find positives in anything, but Wednesday's manager was right to highlight how the run has turned some into genuine contenders to play Championship football.
“Cole (McGhee) as left centre-back - wow, great performance,” he gushed. “It's the highest level he has played at.
“Ernie (Weaver), how he organised our defending - I have big respect when I look at where he was two-and-a-half months ago.
“Gabe (Otegbayo) had a difficult game on Saturday against Bristol (City). He came on and played a good game as right centre-back.
“Jarvis (Thornton) in midfield, George (Brown) up front – wow, he was strong, he was a handful.”
Most of all on Tuesday there was Yisa Alao, forced on after 37 minutes by injuries to Olaf Kobacki and Reece Johnson. He is only 16 and played like it, unburdened by the decay around him, just wanting to get a football at his feet and run with it. A beautifully-shaped cross in the 67th-minute was headed away by McJannet.
“He had a really good period, then he got an injury,” explained Pedersen. “He played 90 minutes at QPR for the Under-18s at the weekend. He should have played 30 minutes on Tuesday, but it was a little bit more.
“As soon as he came on he tried to bring extra people to his side but he just took the battle and grew.
“One of the important skills you need when you are a young player is to adapt – to the level, to new players.
“We have to be very careful. He just has to have a normal training week with the Championship team,” he said.
“He has to train as much as he can with us, but there is a close dialogue with the under-18s, under-21s, to make a good week's plan for him to take his development step by step.
“Not just with him, with all of the players.”
It is a fine line to tread with gaping holes in the first-team squad.
“Those three games have been fantastic for our little squad to make the squad maybe a little bit bigger,” reflected Pedersen.
“We need them to grow fast because we need them in the first team but we also have individual restrictions so we don't overload or under-load them.”
If the cup felt like throwing them in at the deep end, all that is left now is to chuck them in the sea. Some look like they can swim.
Artell’s side, meanwhile, sit fifth in League Two and had already stunned Manchester United in the previous round in front of a national television audience.
He said: “To get to the last 16 of any competition, regardless of who you face, who you don’t face, is a terrific achievement.
“The fact that it’s not been done for 24 years shows that level, if you like, of achievement.
“So the players deserve a huge amount of credit for the consistency of their performances.
“Both in the league and in this competition, it’s not been easy. We’ve had a League Two team, a Premier League big boy and a Championship team.
“That’s not an easy run. Nobody can say we’ve somehow had the footballing gods in on our draws or something.”
When asked who he wanted to face next, Artell said: “I’m not particularly fussed, because the thing is, I could sit here and say I’d like to go to such-and-such a ground.
“I’ve never been to Spurs yet, which would be lovely, but then the footballing gods might give us.
“So the good thing is that we’re in the hat and we’ll see what happens.”