Sheffield Wednesday began their pre-season fixture list with a friendly at Alfreton Town this evening and a useful workout on a pleasant evening resulted in a 1-1 draw against the Derbyshire side.
Wednesday fielded close to 2 different sides in each half with the majority of the squad along with a few youngsters getting a run out.
The Owls took the lead when Barry Bannan scored with a fine dipping strike from 25 yards midway through the 2nd half but conceded a late equaliser when Clayton headed a goal for the home side.
Fitness and match practice is always the priority ahead of results at this stage of the season but this summer that is perhaps even more of a focus for the Owls.
Wednesday's run to the play-off final saw their regular season extended by 3 weeks and as a result the players have had a far shorter break from the intensity, both physically and mentally, of competitive football. As a result the early phase of pre-season may well focus on ensuring the players are well rested enough for the season ahead and they don't overdo their preparations.
For those that do try to read anything into pre-season friendly results, Wednesday also drew 1-1 with the same opponents last summer and a few seasons ago a young Owls side lost 14-0 to Alfreton – a result which attracted much derision but when the season kicked off the Owls gained automatic promotion from League One.
3 key players that didn't feature in Derbyshire tonight were Keiren Westwood, Fernando Forestieri & Glenn Loovens. Westwood has had an extended rest having been part of the Republic of Ireland squad at Euro 2016 but is likely to feature next week, Forestieri has a slight knock but should also be involved soon. Loovens is more of a concern as he has an ankle injury that requires an operation and is likely to be sidelined for around 2 months.