Massimo Luongo is NOT injured: Tony Pulis explains why he took him off in Owls' defeat at Huddersfield
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The Australian international was substituted at half-time on his return from suspension to be replaced by Joey Pelupessy, with many assuming he had taken a knock.
But Pulis said there was no injury where Luongo was concerned, rather that he felt he had struggled to compete with the pace of Huddersfield’s midfield, which ran amok in the first half an hour of a one-sided first half.
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Hide AdThe Terriers ran into a 2-0 lead within 24 minutes as Wednesday failed to offer much resistance.
Asked why Luongo was taken off, Pulis said: “He just looked a little bit short, to be honest. For the first 20 or 25 minutes they completely ran over the top of us and after that we’re chasing a game of football.
“We needed a break and we didn’t get a break. We needed a bit of quality and we didn’t have that quality.”
Asked about Luongo’s fitness more generally, the frustrated Owls boss, who also spoke out on a lack of leadership in his squad, said: “He looked very leggy and their midfield ran over our midfield.
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Hide Ad“We couldn’t get to grips with anything and we couldn’t get anything going, apart from the last 10 minutes. The second half was a much more even contest.
“We need that person in the team that is going to do something or open the door or we need them to make a mistake for us to score.”