Wednesday’s injury hit squad took another blow ahead of the clash with Aston Villa on Saturday but Carlos Carvalhal has issued a very clear message ahead of Friday’s huge clash with Reading.
Fernando Forestieri joined the growing list of absentees as the Owls went down 2-0 at Villa Park.
The Owls ace will be assessed during the week, along with a number of his teammates in the treatment room, as Wednesday host the Royals under the S6 lights.
But the head coach has strongly underlined the fact that his side will be strong and ready to compete in this crucial top six battle.
He said: “If you as ask me with Tom Lees, with Kieran Lee, with Sam Hutchinson, with Gary Hooper, with Almen Abdi, with Fernando Forestieri if we are more strong – then I will say yes, we are more strong.
“We would have more options so of course it would make us stronger. But we will not cry over the players we don’t have.
“We must live with the players that we have and we have plenty here and a lot of confidence in all of them.
“We showed this on Saturday, we came to Villa Park to play face by face and try to win the game. We started the game strong, positively and had our chances.
“Even when we were down to 10 men, we created chances and continued to play our positive football. But ok, this is football and congratulations to Aston Villa - now we focus on a big game for us against Reading on Friday.”
For sure, there is plenty at stake for both the Owls and the Royals next time out and on the game, Carlos added: “We have a massive match at our home on Friday, we will name a strong team because we have confidence in them all and we will need the supporters to be with the players right until the end.”