Carlos Carvalhal said despite the defeat there were positives to take from the Owls’ 2-1 extra-time defeat to Cambridge at the Cambs Glass Stadium.
Wednesday took the lead in the first half through Lucas Joao but Cambridge equalised late on in the second half with a long range strike from Pietro Mingoia.
The game went to extra time, in which Luke Berry scored another late goal which proved to be the winner for the home side.
Carlos said: “Even though we lost we did some things well today.
“We only played two days ago so we had to make some changes to the team, but even some had to play today who also played against Aston Villa.
“Some of the younger boys played in the game and it is a great experience for them to feature in matches like this, they did very well.
“Cambridge scored a very good goal to take the game to extra time, and at this point it is a lottery.
“It is still early in the season and the team needs time to be fresh, especially when we don’t have a complete squad yet.”