Absence of Sheffield Wednesday new man explained after Southampton defeat

Brought in on loan from French side Troyes, Ugbo's season-long loan with Owls Championship rivals Cardiff City was terminated early in order to facilitate the deal, which was announced on Thursday. The Canadian international comes in to beef up the attacking options available to Danny Röhl, who has designs on completing more surgery on the squad before the month is out.

Ugbo spent time out injured while with Cardiff in December with what was reported as a hamstring niggle. He was able to make the bench in their new years day win over QPR but was left out altogether when the Bluebirds were beaten 4-0 at Hillsborough in the FA Cup last weekend.

Asked why he was not involved in the Southampton defeat, Röhl explained to The Star that Ugbo will be subject to a carefully thought-out period of bedding-in to the club and his technical requirements. Having just come back from a minor injury, there will also be efforts made to monitor the load put on the 25-year-old so as to guard against a reoccurrence of any issue. Bringing him into the club early on in the transfer window will allow time for the ex-Chelsea youngster to get upto speed.

"He needs time to adapt to our intensity, our pressing," Röhl said. "We will do this in the next week and this is why it is better to have him earlier in the transfer window. We have seen in the first training that he has quality and now it is about being ready for our next games.

"In December he was injured in a muscle and then you have to pay attention when you come immediately into it. When you have a jump in intensity it is always a risk. We will make him ready step by step. My players improved a lot month by month also with their intensity. At the beginning it was not always easy but it takes time and now it looks better. If you come as a new player you have to control the load and we will do this in the next weeks."