There’s not much cause for celebration around Sheffield Wednesday right now, and while a pre-season win over Mansfield Town won’t change that, one of the goalscorers will.
With the ongoing financial crisis caused by Dejphon Chansiri and the debacle around Danny Rohl’s future at the club, most fans would be forgiven for dreading the start of the new season.
The Owls are tipped for promotion by most, with our Championship preview for 2025/26 tipping them for a very difficult season indeed.
As it stands, Sheffield Wednesday will go into the new campaign with a threadbare squad and potentially a new manager just days before their first game. But, there is one small positive to take this weekend.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSheffield Wednesday win and Ike Ugbo scores
Across a 120-minute game, described as a ‘training exercise’ by the club, Sheffield Wednesday defeated Mansfield Town at their Middlewood Road facility.
The key takeaway comes in the goalscoring department, with forgotten man Olaf Kobacki on the scoresheet, and Ike Ugbo scoring as well.
The Owls completed a 120-minute training exercise with Mansfield at Middlewood Road this afternoon.
The aggregate score finished 2-0 in Wednesday’s favour.
Olaf Kobacki and Iké Ugbo were on target for the hosts in S6 #swfc pic.twitter.com/oyellHFEUV
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) July 26, 2025
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Fans have been excited to see Owls youngsters getting game time lately, and suspect that may carry on into the new season.
However, the fact that misfiring striker Ugbo has finally got himself a goal could be absolutely massive for Wednesday, if he can use that as the platform to rebuild his shattered confidence in 2025/26.
Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty ImagesIke Ugbo could turn things around after disastrous 2024/25
Ugbo suffered a truly bizarre season last time out. After joining from Cardiff City in a reported £2.5m deal, the Canadian forward went the whole Championship campaign without scoring a goal for the Owls.
Bagging one goal in the League Cup did nothing to alleviate fears that Wednesday had signed themselves a flop. Indeed, many fans went through a range of emotions last term, ranging from anger and frustration at Ugbo’s displays, to simply mocking the striker for his barren run.
Stats via FBRef (based on Sheffield Wednesday appearances only)
It’s worth remembering, though, this is a player who scored seven goals for Wednesday during a loan spell in 2023/24 to help keep them in the division.
Ugbo’s issues were purely based on his confidence, and now that he’s scored his first goal in almost a year, we could and should see some signs of recovery moving forward.
With less competition for game time and drastically lower expectations, there’s every chance that Ugbo could find himself in the ideal environment to thrive now.