Sheffield Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Birmingham on August 4 could become a casualty of the severe flooding in the city. which left Hillsborough submerged under deep water.

Heavy rain resulted in the River Don, which flows right past the Coca-Cola Championship club's ground, bursting its banks leaving the immediate area without electricity and working telephone lines, forcing the stadium's closure and leaving some areas of the ground, including the pitch, under six feet of water.

"We're waiting for the assistance of the fire service to get the water pumped away, then we can assess the damage to the playing surface and the undersoil heating," said a club spokesman.

"We're maybe looking at the cancellation of the pre-season game against Birmingham on August 4, but we're still five weeks away from the first home game of the new season on August 11.

"That gives us an extra two weeks to get ready, but until the water is cleared off the pitch we won't know the full extent of the damage."

"The water rose as high as Row F in the main stand, probably up to 6ft and there is probably about 3ft of water still on the pitch which does not seem to be draining very quickly at all.

"Most of the damage has occurred in the South Stand at ground level, closest to the river.

"Flood waters have gone into the directors' area, the boardroom, the dressing rooms, the Riverside restaurant and the kitchens.

"There's a lot of residue left which now needs to be cleared up. A JCB has cleared the main car park but inside the building there's still a lot of work to be done."

Local rivals Sheffield United were spared any flood damage due to Bramall Lane being situated across the city.