The nature of Challinor’s first two games in charge means that he’s practically seen all of the players that are in and around the first team at Wednesday, and then some.
A 4-0 defeat tonight meant that the Owls finished their group stage of the tournament in second place, but the fact that they were already qualified for the Round of 32 made it a bit of a dead rubber. With that in mind, 11 changes were made to the starting XI, and a whole host of youngsters were handed their debuts.
Challinor wasn’t overly concerned with what he saw in his first game in charge at Hillsborough, and after the Oldham Athletic game, the Accrington loss and the FA Youth Cup, he’s pleased to have got a full lay of the land at his new club.
“I suppose it was what I expected, really,” he said when asked about the game. “The one thing it has done, it means I’ve seen pretty much every player over the time I’ve been at the club, in terms of first-team fixtures, youth-team fixtures, a mixture of what it looked like today.
“But it was also about understanding where the priorities were and what was most important. There are some things, as I said, that will be good from tonight, including the fact that some young players have made their debuts. It is a really proud moment for them and something they will remember.
“Obviously, there are going to be challenges, but all of them should be better for the experience, whether it was good or bad, and it should stand them in good stead moving forward as they begin their journeys…
“We had to make structured substitutions so I went into it not expecting loads, understanding what it would look like and probably you have to get yourself in that headspace as early as possible so as not to become frustrated because young players especially are going to make mistakes. Some of the more senior ones in terms of minutes and football are still very young and still make mistakes.”
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