Sheffield Wednesday will be without Massimo Luongo for the rest of the season after a fresh update on his injury situation emerged ahead of tonight's Championship outing...

What's the latest?

The Owls have been putting in the final touches ahead of their clash with promotion-chasing Swansea City this evening and the injury situation at Hillsborough Stadium is still pretty bleak.

It has now been revealed that the Australian midfielder will not return for their final six league games.

YorkshireLive relayed comments from Darren Moore on Monday afternoon, also speaking about Moses Odubajo, he said:

"By the time they get to the level in terms of the contact with the team, we just think the season will have run out of legs for them.

"In weeks to come you might hear of them being back on the training ground; they’ll need the volume of twisting in turning, of match minutes, of Under-23s games – because of all that, I don’t envisage them being back (this season)."

A big miss

If there is anyone that the Owls have missed most in recent weeks, then you could certainly put up a case for Luongo as his energy, grit and aggression in midfield is exactly what a struggling outfit needs at this time.

The 28-year-old has been restricted to just ten Championship starts all campaign as he still looks to recover from a serious knee problem.

Indeed, Luongo has not been seen in a Wednesday shirt since an 11-minute cameo against Preston North End in February, whilst he hasn't started from the off since the 2-0 derby defeat to Huddersfield well before Christmas.

[snack-amp-story url=https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-sheffield-wednesday-news-transfer-rumours-and-recent-gossip" title="Read this week's latest Sheffield Wednesday news, latest transfer rumours and more!]

It was only in 2017 that the former QPR maestro was being dubbed one of the best in the division by his ex-boss Ian Holloway.

"The kid’s getting better and better. I’m delighted for him. If there’s a better midfielder in the league at the moment then I’d like to see him," claimed Holloway. "If he starts (scoring more goals) then, wow, what a player we’ve got on our hands. That’s the icing on the cake."

Whilst Garry Monk lauded Luongo's leadership qualities, suggesting he was a "quiet leader," merely another reason why the Owls miss him dearly.

Despite being restricted to a total of 12 league appearances, the 5 foot 9 dynamo still ranks amongst their best-performers on the season with an average WhoScored rating of 6.65 - this is better than Adam Reach, top goalscorer Josh Windass, and usual replacement Joey Pelupessy.

Luongo's 2.4 tackles per outing is unrivalled, not even by Sam Hutchinson or Osaze Urhoghide (1.8) - again, showing exactly why Wednesday miss his bustling presence in the engine room.

To have him confirmed as out for the remainder of their six matches is a killer blow. The Owls are cut seven points adrift and need every help they can get.

Moore is surely now absolutely gutted to hear he won't be able to welcome back Luongo.

AND in other news, "Darren's got a decision to make" - Exclusive: Palmer weighs in on key Owls decision...