Kieran Lee is fit to return to the Wednesday squad … but with a health warning from head coach Carlos Carvalhal.
Lee was left out of the 18 at Aston Villa as his on-going hip problem forced him to take a rest. Carvalhal confirmed on Thursday that Lee could be selected against Bristol City at S6 on Saturday, but said that the club needs to manage the player’s progress, and added: “We have three games over the next week and we believe he can be important to us, if not in all these games then in some of the matches.”
Lee will have happy memories of his last game against Bristol City at Hillsborough, the midfielder grabbing a dramatic 96th minute winner at Hillsborough last season to seal a 3-2 victory, after we had trailed 2-0.
Stephen Fletcher has been back in training this week after a sickness bug while Sam Hutchinson looks unlikely to return until the New Year after his knee surgery.
Looking to the game with fourth-placed City, Carvalhal said: “We will need the support of the fans on Saturday. We will be playing against a team that is in a good position, they have seven more points than us and away from home have only lost one game.
“They are in fourth position and they deserve it so far.”
However, Carvalhal has been pleased with the performances in our last four games, culminating in the excellent 2-1 win at Villa before the international break, and is confident Wednesday can continue to progress in terms of performances and results.
Looking at how the Championship is shaping up, Carvalhal said it was too early to tell and that, with a lot of games to be played in December and January, it will probably not be until the end of January before he will have a better view of how the division is likely to pan out.