Japanese defender Ryo Hatsuse impressed in his full debut in English football on Friday evening, playing 85 minutes in the Owls’ 2-1 defeat to Sunderland before receiving the adoration of the Hillsborough crowd when he was replaced by Marvin Johnson.
Yan Valery and Stuart Armstrong both had to sit out of the clash with calf trouble, Michael Smith was absent through illness and both Max Lowe and Callum Paterson had to be taken off through injury during the match itself. Dominic Iorfa was able to return to the bench after a lengthy lay-off but the recoveries of Akin Famewo and Anthony Musaba continue with Di’Shon Bernard out for the remainder of the campaign.
An energetic effort on the left-hand side of Wednesday’s set-up drew praise from Owls boss Danny Röhl, who went on to reveal Hatsuse had also picked up a problem.
“He had a fantastic game,” Röhl told The Star. “A fantastic game. To come in for his first start with front foot defending, calmness on the ball, solutions. He was there with the long ball behind. A good game. I am happy he is here, it is a good decision and he can give us a good input… But he also at the end had problems with his calf.”
Wednesday make the long trip to Plymouth Argyle next weekend and it is hoped their newest addition can recover in time to play a part and build on his first Owls start. Like Lowe and Paterson he will be assessed in the coming days and asked whether the injury could see him miss out on contention in Devon, Röhl said:
“Hopefully not, but you never know at the moment. If you have one issue in one area then it can be a problem like this because then the other players have to play and play and play. That makes it harder. But it is OK, we will find another solution, we have a long week now to prepare.”
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