West Brom's opponents Sheffield Wednesday dealt blow as player hit by ban

Sheffield Wednesday will be without defender Di'Shon Bernard when they face West Brom at Hillsborough n the EFL Championship on Saturday.

The Owls appealed the decision after Bernard was sent off for a handball offence in their 2-1 defeat to Luton Town at the weekend. Bernard blocked a Hatters shot, but he along with those associated with Wednesday, believe it struck his shoulder rather than an illegal part of his body.

A penalty was given and Carlton Morris scored to equalise before he scored again to consign them to another defeat. Wednesday are currently third from bottom and occupy the final relegation spot in the Championship.

Bernard's dismissal was one which was met with arguments on both side, and it was decided that the club would appeal the decision. It hasn't had the desired outcome however, as the FA have stuck to their decision, which means Bernard will be suspended, and will play no part at the weekend.

“We tried,” Wednesday boss Danny Rohl explained to The Star in his pre-match press conference.

“But it was not successful - and that’s the reason why he is not available for the weekend... I think the club spoke with some refs, but all in all we cannot change it now.

"It’s now about focusing on the next game, I can’t influence the other things… We spoke a lot about this in the last couple of days, but now it’s about focusing on the next opponent.”

The most recent meeting came at Hillsborough with the Yorkshire outfit running out 3-0 winners at the end of April. Wednesday were battling to survive at the time, whilst WBA hadn't yet secured their play-off spot. Anthony Musaba, Ike Ugbo and Josh Windass' efforts was gave Wednesday their first win over West Brom in 10 attempts.