Sheffield Wednesday are running out of time if they are to find the new striker that manager Garry Monk is longing for.

There’s now even more pressure to get it right as the Owls were thumped 5-0 at the weekend and are without top goalscorer Steven Fletcher until at least March after he suffered a long-term knee injury.

The club have continued to be linked with Bristol Rovers striker Jonson Clarke-Harris after BristolLive claimed that the south Yorkshiremen have scouted him before and that they have “been a constant in making their interest felt”.

Although he’s not expected to be available for anything less than £2m, owner Dejphon Chansiri should do all he can to try and clinch the 25-year-old despite worries over finances.

Monk revealed that they would look to operate in the loan market, but that’s hardly gone to plan so far with Rhian Brewster joining Swansea City, Eddie Nketiah staying at Arsenal and Connor Wickham’s wages being a major obstacle.

All-in-all, £2m for a player that has bagged 11 times in all competitions is potentially smart business, even if the fee needs to be backlogged until the summer.

If you exclude Fletcher from the equation considering he’s unavailable for the foreseeable future, and Atdhe Nuhiu due to the unique attributes he brings as a 6 foot 6 forward, Clarke-Harris would be the best striking option at the club.

As the table above shows, per WhoScored, the Gas frontman is averaging more shots per game (2.5) than both Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall.

Calling all Premier League experts: Who do these unique statistics belong to? Find out below….

He’s also winning over triple the number of aerial duels per game (6.1) than the duo also, which can only be a good sign when trying to replace the 32-year-old talisman, who wins on average 6.4 per match himself.

This is reinforced by the number of times he is fouled (3.4) as a physical presence is more likely to draw a centre-back in.

At just 25 years of age, Clarke-Harris would also be the youngest option in the Owls’ striking department, so an eye to the next few seasons would be in mind with such a move too.

Winnall and Nuhiu are out of contract at the end of the season, and Wednesday do have the second oldest squad in the division, so two birds with one stone.

And in other news, this Monk regular has made an honest admission about his future at the club…