Will Vaulks effort overcomes major hurdle shared by Lewis Wing as Sheffield Wednesday man attracts praise

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Will Vaulks won a midfield battle featuring Lewis Wing in their win over Wycombe Wanderers.

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Will Vaulks was afforded praise for his performance against Wycombe Wanderers in what has been an up-and-down start to life at Hillsborough.

The Wales international picked up an injury in pre-season and by the admission of his manager Darren Moore has been playing catch-up in what is a hugely competitive battle for minutes in Wednesday’s midfield.

Vaulks started his first league match since defeat at Peterborough United in the 3-1 Wycombe win, with George Byers left out as a precaution due to a foot injury.

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His influence as a senior player in the squad has been reflected in the fact he has taken the captain’s armband in midweek cup matches, however.

And his readiness at being able to step in and perform as he did on Saturday was praised by Moore.

Vaulks won out in the midfield battle with Lewis Wing, himself a former Wednesday player who left the club to join Wycombe on January transfer deadline day last year.

And speaking to the media post-match, Moore hinted at an issue the Welsh international might be suffering from a touch – that he is trying too hard to impress.

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It was an issue spoken about a number of times last season in Wing’s case.

Only Barry Bannan (8.2%) had more of the ball on the day than Vaulks’ 7.3% and only Josh Windass (three) took more shots than Vaulks’ two.

“He was superb and I was pleased for him,” Moore said. “I just said to him 'Vaulksy, you have got nothing to prove to anybody, just play your game.' We saw what he brings to the game and the different sort of player and qualities he brings and why you need that.

“Looking at the squad this year, it is a smaller, tighter squad this year, but there is more versatility in it because with the type of games, there are different ones and it's just picking the right type of personnel for the games.

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“I looked at George and just said 'No, not today' because we needed him to be fully fit, so we took him out of it. Will was ready to step in and he performed very well.”