Sheffield Wednesday have been handed a vital boost ahead of the busy Christmas period, as Josh Windass looks set to return after missing recent fixtures through injury.

The 28-year-old has been one of the top performers in Darren Moore's side so far this season, as only Barry Bannan has contributed to more goals in the third tier.

The former Glasgow Rangers man has four goals and four assists in 18 League One appearances, which has helped him average a strong 6.92 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

This ranks him as the sixth-best player at Hillsborough so far this campaign, so it is clear that he is going to be a vital cog in Sheffield Wednesday's promotion push this season.

His absence has certainly been felt in recent fixtures too, as the Owls looked very poor against Mansfield in the FA Cup two weeks ago and were perhaps fortunate to earn the win, while last weekend saw them fail to find a way past Derby County in a 0-0 stalemate at Pride Park.

Windass has averaged the most shots and the second-most key passes per game, so it can only be a good thing that the creative midfielder looks likely to return to the side this weekend against Exeter City.

Moore confirmed that the attacking midfielder, who scored a "wonderful" goal in the FA Cup first-round win against Morecambe, will be back in full training ahead of Saturday's game, where three points could see the Owls move top of League One.

He said: “We’ll hopefully get him up and out onto the pitch this week. Hopefully, he can continue to make strides and he’ll be alright for next week.

“He had a bit of a strain and so we need that to settle it down. He’s in the process of that settling down so hopefully he’ll be back out there and we’ll be ready to assess him in the week.”

Considering both first-placed Plymouth Argyle and second-placed Ipswich Town slipped up at the weekend, the two clubs will certainly be concerned that Wednesday are right behind them in the hunt for automatic promotion, and are only going to get stronger with the return of a key player in Windass.