Sheffield Wednesday: '˜Special' Fernando Forestieri backed to give Owls festive cheer

When the Owls forward is in the mood, he is a difficult man to contain.

At his very best, Forestieri hustles and harries defenders into mistakes and he is a joy to watch in possession. His technique, control and dribbling prowess set him apart at this level.

After serving a three-match suspension, Forestieri is expected to start at table-topping Newcastle United tonight.

“If he’s selected it’s amazing,” midfielder Sam Hutchinson told The Star. “Like I’ve said before, I rate Nando as one of the best attacking players in the Championship. he does special things and can win you games so it’s a boost for any team.”

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Forestieri was sent off for the third time in his Wednesday career earlier this month. The six-goal attacker was dismissed following an off-the-the-ball incident involving Preston North End midfielder Ben Pearson.

Hutchinson said: “I don’t even know what really happened at Preston and I don’t think it was really recorded on camera either.

“It was handbags; Preston were kicking him all game and he retaliated and gets frustrated but that’s football. No one can blame Nando; that’s his flair, that’s his South American flair, they’ve all got it.”

Hutchinson feels Forestieri “maybe” has to learn from his latest red card but stressed: “It affected us because we went down to 10 men but it didn’t cost us three points.

“It cost himself missing three games, but then you look at the games we played, we won two and lost one so it is what it is. Nando is part of the team you can’t blame him for how he’s retaliated. I have had enough red cards and yellow cards in my time. It is what it is. It is part of football.”

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Despite suffering a minor knock is training, Forestieri is set to line-up against a Newcastle side who are full of confidence following three consecutive victories.

He said: “It’s probably the biggest test we’ve faced all season. Newcastle in their backyard, top of the league at a full house. I can’t wait.”

The Magpies boast the second-best defensive record and are a point clear of Brighton and Hove Albion.

“Newcastle have bought very well,” admitted Hutchinson. “They have a much stronger squad than they did last year and they are a Premier League outfit but we are stronger too. We concentrate on ourselves, not Newcastle, like we do every team. If we worry about ourselves and we play well we can beat any team in this league.

“There are three teams that have beaten them at St James’ Park. Anyone in this league can be beaten. It’s a funny league and a very hard league. Anyone can be beaten. We are never going to give up. We are going to try and get as high as possible and fingers crossed we do that.”

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