Clarity on Michael Ihiekwe fitness comeback as importance to Sheffield Wednesday grows

The vastly experienced 30-year-old was a picture of consistency in 23 Owls appearances before a ACL injury at the end of November ruled him out for the remainder of 2022 and into the new year.

A return to Cardiff City for Mark McGuinness leaves Wednesday shorter than they were in defence and paired with the long-term absence of Ben Heneghan, it could be argued that Darren Moore’s side are short of centre-halves with genuine aerial prowess – which makes Ihiekwe’s successful return all the more important.

A loose recovery timescale of two months was discussed by Moore at the outset of the injury – which has not required surgery – and though he is keen as ever not to nail down a potential date for Ihiekwe’s return, the progress is looking good.

“Icky is fine, he’s doing really well and is progressing,” Moore told The Star. “He’s still in with the medical team but in terms of his progress, he’s doing really, really well in terms of getting to full fitness.

“He is on track. When we get nearer the time I will probably be able to shed more light on it but the fact is that he is on track and doing really well. The signs look good for him but still I can’t give much on the injury, there’s still some time to go on it yet in terms of a prediction when he’ll be back.

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On the injury itself, Moore said Ihiekwe’s pain was manageable but that the decision was made to take him out of match action to ensure long-term safety.

“If it was up to him, he would’ve carried on,” Moore continued. “He thought it was just a little niggle, but the results showed it was more serious than that and that’s just as well really.

“His attitude was that it was just a scratch and that he could get on with it but that wasn’t the case at all.

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“He’s doing good, he understands it and we’ll wait for the doctor and medical team to give us more information down the line.”