Not a bad player, is he? Josh Onomah has struggled for game time this campaign through other players being preferred and injury problems, but he can put that behind him and establish himself as a regular for the latter stage of the Owls’ season.
Onomah was in and out of the Wednesday team until the festive period under Jos Luhukay, appearing 11 times. Unfortunately for Onomah, he could not build-up any consistency as he would often feature or start for a couple of games, then be benched for a few games and that pattern just continued to repeat itself.
Even when the England under-21 international had come into the side in early October and helped out with two assists in two games, he was then benched and it was that lack of regularity as such that did not allow him to gain any momentum in his performances to continue to develop.
Steve Bruce, who was Onomah’s boss last year when on loan at Aston Villa, took over from Luhukay, which looked set to change Onomah’s fortunes in Sheffield. In Bruce’s first game in charge, Onomah came on and during a 25-minute cameo, he suffered a hamstring injury.
Soon after Onomah’s return to full training the week before last, as per The Star, he reportedly dislocated his elbow in training which will only hamper his return to the side.
Prior to his latest injury, however, Bruce did have some words to say on Onomah suggesting that the 21-year-old can impact his side in the latter stage of the season.
Ahead of the 4-2 win over Blackburn on Saturday, Bruce told the media that “it will be good to see Josh back. He played very, very well for me at Aston Villa.” He later continued: “I’m a big admirer of Josh and I’m pleased that he’s up and running and hopefully he’ll have some part to play in the next eight games.”
When Onomah does return, he will hope to make an impact on Bruce’s side in their fight for a playoff spot. If so, he could find himself on loan at Wednesday once again next year under Bruce’s guidance where he could have a consistent run in the side, like he did so at Villa.
But, if he does not, impressive performances could put himself in the spotlight for another move in the summer, potentially permanent, if Mauricio Pochettino chooses to move him on permanently so he can grow and develop at a set club that put their faith in the player, as he clearly has the talent to build on.
