Having only recently returned from many months on the sideline due to an ankle injury, Sheffield Wednesday defender Frank Simek will now be back on the mend with a hamstring ailment for as much as six weeks.

by Greg Seltzer for Soccer365

Having only recently returned from many months on the sideline due to an ankle injury, Sheffield Wednesday defender Frank Simek will now be back on the mend with a hamstring ailment for as much as six weeks.

The U.S. defender was pulled 38 minutes into a weekend win over Queens Park Rangers, and the verdict from the doctor's office was a letdown.

"A grade-2 tear of the hamstring was the diagnosis from his scan," Owls press officer Colin Wood told Soccer365. "We're looking at four to six weeks (before he can return), which is obviously very disappointing."

Simek was welcomed back to the line-up against Southampton on December 6th, and had been slated to enjoy a cool-down rest the following weekend. However, boss Brian Laws was pressed into using the St. Louis native when Lewis Buxton fell ill.

"The manager really didn't want to have to play him (against QPR)," said Wood. "He was really left with no other option."
 
Tenth place Wednesday, currently unbeaten in five, will next travel to Wales to face Eddie Johnson and Cardiff on Saturday.

Soccer365 reporter Greg Seltzer blogs daily over at No Short Corners.

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