A foot injury sustained in training ruled the Ipswich Town loanee out of the League One clash. It remains to be seen whether the 24-year-old will link up with the Iraq national team going into the international break.
“He [Al-Hamadi] could not be part of the squad today,” Henrik Pedersen told the media. “He had light training today. I hope he will be fit in the next two to three days so he can start to train normal again.”
Centre-back Ricardo Santos and versatile forward Davis Keillor-Dunn were both withdrawn in the second half due to cramp. Eyebrows were raised over Pedersen’s decision to start Kieran Morrison on the bench. The talented winger replaced Keillor-Dunn but was unable to produce a moment of inspiration in the final third to unlock a well-organised Stockport side.
“I look every week at how we are training and then I make a decision on the starting XI,” said Pedersen. “We have a strong squad right now.”
When the Dane was asked if Morrison could have given them with width in the wide areas, Pedersen said: “We opened things up better when we had wingers in the second half. It helped us. Harry [Gray] did it really well when he came on.”
Wednesday produced a lacklustre performance against Stockport, registering just six shots at goal compared to the visitors 18. “We want to create much more and this is what we are working on,” said Pedersen.
Although Wednesday remain in the automatic promotion places after stretching their unbeaten league run to five matches, boos from the home fans greeted the final thistle.
Pedersen said: “We all want much, much more. The players are doing all they can to find this rhythm and to bring this team together. We are still young and we are working really hard to get this flow and speed into the game.”
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Has this chump forgotten he put out the side without any wingers? And what the fuck has J Lowe got on Pedersen?