COVID-19 shutdown – Pros and cons of Sheffield Wednesday’s forced Coronavirus postponements against Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers

The Owls are currently in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak at the club, an outbreak that led to them only being able to name four substitutes for the FA Cup win over Exeter City last weekend.

Neil Thompson’s side were due to face Coventry City this weekend followed by Wycombe Wanderers next week, however the EFL confirmed on Wednesday evening that those two games would now not be going ahead.

It’s a tough time for the club, with the health of staff and players paramount, but we tried to find some pros to go with the cons of the situation.

Pros

- The postponement of the two games is the right thing to do in terms of getting the virus under control at the club. The less contact that players/staff have with each other, the easier it will be to end the outbreak.

- Fielding a weakened side hit by Coronavirus, whether it’s short or includes players who only recently recovered, would be fair to Wednesday – especially against two sides who are expected to be amongst their rivals at the wrong end of the table come the end of the season.

- Aside from those who tested positive or are selfisolating, the time without games will give some of Wednesday’s injured players a chance to get back and available. Josh Windass, Massimo Luongo, Julian Borner, Keiren Westwood and Chey Dunkley are all players who have missed games recently, and the return of any would be seen as a big boost.

- It gives the chairman a bit more time to try and sort a new manager out before the game, possibly giving whoever comes in to replace Tony Pulis a couple more games than they may otherwise have had.

- The new signing. This is a late addition to the pro list, with Andre Green’s signing having just been confirmed by the club. He’ll get a bit of time to get to know his teammates – whether that’s on Zoom or when the training ground is safe to open up again – which will set him up better for his debut.

Cons

- Momentum. The Owls have some at the minute, for the first time in a long time. With four wins in their last five games in all competitions, Wednesday would have been riding high going into matches against Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers. This holds them back a bit.

- Fixture congestion could become a problem. With the away trip to Bournemouth postponed due to SWFC’s FA Cup commitments against Everton, and now the Coventry/Wycombe games, the Owls need to now try and squeeze three more fixtures into an already busy schedule.

- It means it’s bad. The fact that Wednesday don’t have enough players to put out a strong enough side this weekend means that there are plenty of people who have been affected by the virus. Hopefully they all make a swift and full recovery, as do any families affected.

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