Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood has been ruled out of his team’s derby clash with Leeds United on Sunday.
Manager Carlos Carvalhal revealed at his media briefing that Westwood is out of the Championship showdown at Hillsborough with a rib injury.
Westwood picked up the knock against Cardiff City two weeks ago and played through the pain in the derby defeat to Sheffield United on Sunday.
The keeper, 32, was missing from the side which was defeated by Birmingham City on Wednesday, and he has been ruled out of the Yorkshire derby after undergoing scans.
Joe Wildsmith, 21, is set to keep his place in the Wednesday side after an impressive display in midweek at St Andrews.
“We believe a lot in Joe Wildsmith,” said Owls manager Carvalhal, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “He did very well (against Birmingham). He gave the team a lot of confidence. “Of course we would prefer to have Keiren Westwood with us because he is a fantastic goalkeeper but we have a young goalkeeper with fantastic ability.”
Having joined the club from North East side Sunderland back in 2014, Westwood has established himself as a key member of the first team squad, with 135 appearances under his belt.
Prior to Wednesday’s clash with Birmingham, the Republic of Ireland international had appeared in each of the club’s nine Championship fixtures this season and kept two clean sheets in the process.
OPINION
Westwood is one of the key men in Carvalhal’s side and his experience and pedigree will be sorely missed for Sunday’s clash at Hillsborough. Wildsmith impressed in midweek but Leeds will view him as more vulnerable than the long-established number one and it increases the pressure further on the home side. The Owls were tipped by many to be in the promotion mix come the end of the season, but have had a poor start to the season and lie 15th in the table after 10 games. Naturally, their will be zero sympathy from their bitter rivals, who will ben encouraged that Wednesday followed up their 4-2 defeat at home to Steel City rivals Sheffield United with another loss in the West Midlands.