Sheffield Wednesday will be without Mason Burstow for at least the next month after Dave Challinor explained his absence against Oldham Athletic.

The Owls fell to the lower-league Latics in the FA Cup First Round, with Will Sutton clinching the win for the hosts at Boundary Park during extra time.

Challinor Reveals Burstow Blow

However, one absentee from the match in Greater Manchester was former Bolton Wanderers man Mason Burstow, who was replaced in the starting eleven by Jamal Lowe in Challinor’s first game in charge.

Speaking to the Sheffield Star following the defeat to Oldham, the ex-Stockport County boss revealed that an audacious effort during their draw with Blackpool has come back to bite the Hull City loanee.

“He got injured in the Blackpool game, so he’s going to be four to six weeks. I think he’s tweaked a groin with the shot he had from the halfway line.”

He was replaced by Matt Hamshaw three minutes after his attempt on goal, with Harry Gray coming on to see out the match. However, he too was out of action against the Latics, with a pre-match issue ending any chance of his involvement on the night.

Explaining the 18-year-old’s injury, alongside other issues across the rest of the Wednesday squad, Challinor added:

“It happened yesterday. Harry got a whack on the hip and has obviously tried to go out and do the warm- up and was unable to run. It’s a soft tissue one. It’s not a serious one. We were hoping he was going to be involved today. Harry would have been an important one for us.

“He’s the one that has no excuses in terms of [Di’Shon Bernard], hasn’t completed 90 minutes. So when you’re coming back from injury, especially long-term injury, there’s always little hurdles that you have to get over. He’ll be sore tonight. He’ll be sore all over. But again, a big positive thing that ticked off for him. So, fingers crossed with him.”

Burstow Blow Will Cause Headache

After a fairly innocuous attempt at goal, it seems that Mason Burstow is now forced to pay the price of his effort with a four-to-six-week spell on the injury table ahead of him.

Since arriving on loan, he has not made a massive impact, but with his experience from last season’s promotion campaign with Bolton Wanderers, having his services could have been useful as Dave Challinor tries to get to grips with his new side.

With Ali Al-Hamadi, Jamal Lowe and Davis Keillor-Dunn still at his disposal, there shouldn’t be too many immediate worries, but for flexibility and rotation, having Burstow stuck on the sidelines will be a frustrating one, especially as the fixtures pile up in the coming weeks ahead of rescheduled games and the festive fixture list.

Thankfully, many of Wednesday’s absentees are through illness, meaning that Challinor should have nearly all of his squad available to him soon enough.