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Sheff Wed Manager
Brian Laws |
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LOAN defender Lewis Buxton has been given the all-clear to play for the Owls in the FA Cup.
Manager Brian Laws is also hoping that loan striker Bartosz Slusarski will be available for Saturday's tie against Fulham at Hillsborough.
Buxton's club, Stoke City, have no objection to him being Cup-tied.
Laws has also received encouraging feedback from Slusarski's club, West Brom, and hopes for official clearance from the Hawthorns.
Stoke's decision on Buxton could also be a pointer towards the Owls' chances of landing him on a full transfer after his Hillsborough loan expires on January 17.
Laws wants to keep him and values the 25-year-old for his versatility and the form he has shown since he arrived in mid-October.
The Wednesday manager is also looking to prolong Slusarski's Hillsborough stay after his initial one-month loan runs out in January.
The club's third loan player, Jimmy Smith, will not be involved on Saturday. He has been unable to establish himself in the team and will be going back to Chelsea after his half-season spell with Wednesday comes to an end on January 10.
This will avoid him becoming Cup-tied, so he and Chelsea will have the option of a loan move for him to another club.
To have lost both Buxton and Slusarski for Saturday's game would have been a big blow for the Owls, whose numbers are depleted by injuries.
Buxton is a regular in the team at right-back and played well in Sunday's game at Coventry.
Slusarski has played on the left side of midfield or up front and scored in the last home game, against Blackpool on Boxing Day.
Laws hopes to have Jermaine Johnson back on Saturday after a five-week absence with a knee injury.