Mark Beevers hailed Sheffield Wednesday's Academy after scooping the Wickes Championship Young Apprentice of the Year award.The 18-year-old centre-half, who has made his first-team breakthrough this season, was presented with his accolade at Sunday's Football League Awards dinner at the London Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.

Beevers said: "It's fantastic to win and I feel as though I've done the academy proud.

"I've worked hard on the education side as well as the football side so I would like to thank everyone at the academy for helping my development.

"I'm not the first to come through our academy into the first-team and hopefully I won't be the last.

"I've come a long way in a short space of time, now I have to keep plugging away and learn from every game that I play. This award is fantastic for me and for Sheffield Wednesday."

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