Sheffield Wednesday: Joe Wildsmith escapes manager's wrath after Owls setback

Joe Wildsmith got the nod in between the sticks after Keiren Westwood was forced to withdraw from the Championship fixture during the warm-up due to illness. It was the talented shot-stopper’s 13th outing in Wednesday colours.

The 20-year-old, who has caught the eye since making his Owls debut against Mansfield Town in the Capital One Cup last August, was originally left-out of their match-day squad.

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But despite being preferred to Lewis Price in goal, England Under-21 international Wildsmith was powerless to stop the Wednesday crashing to their heaviest defeat of the campaign. The result, coming off the back of a four-match winning sequence, saw Carvalhal’s troops slip to sixth in the table.

Defensively Wednesday looked vulnerable, particularly in the first half, and they conceded four goals either side of half-time.

“Joe played very well,” Carvalhal said. “When Bristol created chances, Joe was there. He gave confidence to the team but it wasn’t our day.”

Meanwhile, Wednesday have sold-out their ticket allocation for their trip to play-off rivals Derby County on Saturday, April 23. The Owls will be roared on by 3,080 fans for the televised clash, which gets underway at 12.30pm at The iPro Stadium.

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