Former Sheffield Wednesday man admits surprise at Owls' post-Christmas slump

Wednesday were sitting pretty in third place at Christmas but won only two league matches in their last 14 heading into the coronavirus-enforced break in proceedings. It’s a statistics that places them second-bottom behind only Yorkshire rivals Hull City in the Championship’s post-yuletide form table.

Every second-tier side has played the same number of games meaning that in the event of a cancelled season end, if a points-per-game average was to decide the final standings, the Owls would stay in 15th.

Prutton stopped short of backing an Owls automatic promotion push back in December but did suggest Garry Monk’s men were well-placed for a tilt at the pay-offs, singling out Steven Fletcher’s goals as the reason he felt they had an edge over several rivals.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Prutton admitted Wednesday’s meltdown took him by surprise, though not as much as the downturn in fortunes of the Tigers.

“I probably didn’t see Sheffield Wednesday’s slump coming and being as drastic as it has, but it is Hull City that have caught me most by surprise in this table.

“I think how they’ve been playing since the turn of the year, with the players who have left and the horrendous injury list, and that has to come into it. But when it comes to my predictions I have obviously been operating in a parallel universe where none of that has happened!”