Sheffield Wednesday: Fit-again Glenn Loovens out to give Owls boss selection poser

“I get more nervous watching than I do when I’m playing,” the Owls club captain told The Star.

“When you are playing, you can control your performance and how you play.

“If you’re not playing, you can’t do anything about situations.

“I like to be in control.”

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After six weeks on the sidelines, the centre-back was relieved to return to action before the international break.

The 32-year-old played over an hour of the development squad’s 2-0 home victory over Birmingham City at Hillsborough a week ago.

It was Loovens’ first appearance since the Championship Play-Off final.

“I feel very good and in no pain at all,” said the Dutchman, who made 38 appearances in all competitions last time around.

“I’m very glad I had a run-out and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks intense training.

“All I can do is make sure that the manager has got a tough decision to make.”

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Loovens played through the pain barrier last season. He struggled to shake off an ankle injury, a problem which required a number of pain-killing injections.

Loovens knock failed to improve over the summer and he went under the knife in July.

He said: “I felt my ankle again on the first day back in pre-season training so the decision to have the op was easily made after that.

“I was struggling with the injury all last season.

“I played through it with a lot of pain-killing injections which isn’t the best so I had to get it sorted.

“I would have loved to have taken part in pre-season but I’ve been in football long enough to know injuries are part and parcel of the game.

“I just wanted to get the op over and done with, focus on the recovery and come back stronger.”

Although he has not enjoyed his watching brief, Loovens has continued to support his teammates.

It was, of course, Loovens and Carlos Carvalhal who persuaded Fernando Forestieri to play in Wednesday’s Championship opener with Aston Villa. Striker Forestieri grabbed a late

“My injury hasn’t stopped me from supporting the rest of the guys,” said the former Celtic and Cardiff City defender.

“You need to support the guys who are playing and I’m happy to do that.”

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