Stuart Gray may be tempted to pitch young loanees Will Keane and Lewis Baker into the starting line-up for tomorrow night’s home clash with Birmingham.
Midfielder Baker has made two substitute appearances since joining from Chelsea while striker Keane signed up last week from Manchester United and both could start as Gray continues to look to Wednesday to start repeating some of our excellent away form in front of the Hillsborough fans.
Speaking about Keane, Gray said today: “I think he’ll score goals for us and create goals for us. At the moment, he has that winning mentality, which Lewis Baker also has.”
Gray says he believes Keane can form a strike partnership with any of the current Wednesday forwards – Stevie May, Atdhe Nuhiu or Caolan Lavery – and it would be no surprise if Keane plays up front against Birmingham, with Baker also a strong possibility for the starting eleven.
Sam Hutchinson is suspended for the game after being sent off within 15 minutes of coming on as a substitute against Bolton, Giles Coke has suffered a setback after sustaining a back injury while Lewis Buxton was expected to play for an hour in today’s under-21s match against Barnsley.
Gray said Wednesday can’t afford to gift early goals like we did against Bolton when we take on a Birmingham side revitalised under Gary Rowett, and added: “We are within touching distance of the top six but we can’t allow the gap to get too big. We’re at the business end of the season and we need to put points on in threes.”