Final score: Owls 2-3 Villa
Owls coach Lee Bullen saw plenty to be encouraged by as the Under-21s lost out 3-2 to Premier League side Aston Villa at Middlewood Road.With a large portion of the Wednesday squad made up of trialists, Bullen was pleased by the performance levels across the pitch.
The Owls now have plenty to think about in terms of offering contracts to the youngsters who have impressed today against Villa and over the course of the past few weeks.
Bullen said: “When you have so many trialists, you never know how it is going to go, whether it will be disjointed or not.
“We had two trialists who scored and the team played well so it’s now up to us to make decisions and we have to work fast because the season starts next week.
“We’ve played two games against Chesterfield and Villa with 75 per cent of the squad being trialists. Today I think three or four of them really stood out.”
Wednesday kick off their Under-21 campaign against Watford on Monday and Bullen added:
“With the Under-21s you are not building a squad, you are building a team. You have to take into account that there may be nerves, some may have been released from other clubs and view this as a second chance.
“But if we can see that technical ability is there and little bits about their character, then that is what we are looking for.
“We have to work fast and get this right because those kids are playing for their careers.”