Sheffield Wednesday are to seek a second opinion on Gary Hooper’s groin injury after ruling him out of tonight’s (Friday) Championship showdown against Leeds United, it has been confirmed.
The striker, 30, has not played for nine months but was closing in on a first-team return from the damaged hip he suffered last December.
However, Hooper suffered a fresh setback when he suffered a new problem with his groin during a 60-minute appearance for the Owls’ Under-23s team last week.
“He’s not trained in full with the team this week,” manager Jos Luhukay told the Sheffield Star. “He must go for a second opinion to another doctor. He still has pain and problems. It will take time to come back to 100 per cent in the team training.”
OPINION
This is a major blow to Wednesday’s promotion hopes. Hooper is one of the finest centre-forwards in the Championship and has a track record that makes him a man to be feared. After ripping it up at Celtic, where he netted 82 times in just 138 matches, Hooper has returned to England to plunder goals, and his Championship tally of 60 from 160 matches, half of them in an Owls shirt, is very impressive. Following nine months on the sidelines and this latest blow suffered in his comeback for the development squad, there must be serious doubts as to whether Hooper can recapture his former heights. Wednesday are well placed to challenge for promotion and will climb to within one point of leaders Leeds if they triumph at Hillsborough tonight, but they badly need such a proven goalscorer back in the first-team squad and challenging for a starting role. His latest absence leads to real question marks over whether that can happen.