West Ham's Benni McCarthy open to loan move to Sheffield Wednesday

Benni McCarthy is more open to a loan move to Sheffield Wednesday from West Ham United than Hérita Ilunga after Gary Megson, the manager at Hillsborough, said the clubs were discussing signing the pair temporarily. Ilunga, the DR Congo left-back, does not want to drop down two divisions to the League One club, according to a friend of the player. He said: "The issue is that Ilunga prefers to stay at the same level he is now. He is not concerned about Wayne Bridge coming to West Ham [on loan from Manchester City] and is prepared to fight for his place." McCarthy is still weighing up his options after a move to Queens Park Rangers last month fell through and is yet to decide if he wants to move to Wednesday. Megson said: "We are trying to get both players in and the two clubs have been in dialogue for a few days." Matthew Upson expects to discover how serious the tendinitis is in his achilles over the coming days. The centre-back is said to be confident that it will not rule him out for the remainder of the season, as some reports had suggested this week.