Emerson Thome made his eagerly-awaited comeback in Sunderland Reserves' 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last night.

Thome, who has undergone two knee operations during a nine-month lay-off, played for 72 minutes in the game at Hillsborough.

Ben Clark put an effort over before Paul McLaren gave the home side a 32nd minute lead, beating Craig Turns with a low shot from 20 yards.

Jonjo Dickman tested Kevin Pressman with a firm drive, the Wednesday keeper doing well to tip the ball over.

Michael Reddy also had a low shot saved before McLaren grabbed his second goal of the night five minutes before the break.

Turns was at fault with a terrible fumble which presented McLaren with the simple task of tapping the ball into the unguarded net.

Chris Brown, Michael Reddy and Tom Peeters all went close before Sunderland grabbed a consolation goal on 82 minutes. The Owls defence failed to clear Sean Thornton's low right-wing cross and Brown side-footed past Pressman.

Sunderland Reserves: Turns, Clark, Rossiter, Thome (Peeters 72), Varga, Dickman (Brown), Thornton, Schwarz, Reddy, Oster, Black