Matt Penney has received well-deserved plaudits from his manager after catching the eye since making his debut in the Carabao Cup tie at Sunderland earlier this month.
Penney was arguably the man of the match in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Ipswich, his last-gasp tackle on Ellis Harrison denying the Tractor Boys a near-certain late equaliser.
The left back, who has been with Wednesday since he was eight, went out on loan to Mansfield in January but made just two appearances.
Jos Luhukay said: “He was in no-man’s land last season. He had been a long time at Sheffield Wednesday but hadn’t had chances. Now he is taking his chance with both hands and we are very happy about that.
“Matt was not happy and came back to us in the summer. We tried to help him and he has developed himself.
“Now we are very happy and I think Matt is also very happy to be back at Sheffield Wednesday and in the first team.”
The Owls boss added: “The left-back position is not an easy position, but he does it very well in the last two games.
“He is a player we have a future with and we hope in the next weeks and months he makes a good progression and brings stability to the position.”
Jordan Thorniley is another academy product to impress in the first team in recent weeks and, referring to the youngsters he has introduced to the squad since coming to the club, Luhukay said: “We have a lot of young players in the squad who came here as children and now they are growing from boys to men. We enjoy that and we will help them and give them support.”