Henrik Pedersen could select a new Sheffield Wednesday defence vs Blackburn Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to secure a rare victory when they travel to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to halt their four-match losing run by securing a first victory since September when they face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls, who are unbeaten in their last three visits to Ewood Park, suffered a fourth straight defeat last time out, being edged 3-2 by Preston North End in an entertaining clash at Hillsborough.
After scoring two first half goals, Charlie McNeill failed to capitalise on the opportunity to secure a first senior hat-trick, seeing a second half penalty saved just three minutes before North End went up the other end of the field and took the lead for the first time in the match, meaning the Owls were left to reflect on an eighth home league defeat of the campaign.
With the trip to Blackburn marking the beginning of a hectic December schedule, the Owls will be keen to build on the positives that were on show against Preston in the hope of halting their losing run. Ahead of their trip to Lancashire, here are five pre-match talking points:
Charles in the frame
After making his long-awaited comeback from injury for Wednesday’s Under-21s against Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Sheffield & Hallamshire Cup on Wednesday evening, goalkeeper Pierce Charles is in contention to make his first-team comeback at Ewood Park.
The Northern Ireland international has been absent since August due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. Speaking at Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen admitted caveats must be taken into account when making a decision on Charles’ availability for the clash with Rovers, but there is a big hope he will be involved.
The talented shot-stopper has been sorely missed during his absence and the prospect of him being back between the posts at Ewood Park will give Wednesday an injection of confidence.
A new-look defence?
After missing the defeat to Preston through suspension, Dominic Iorfa is back available for the clash with Valérien Ismaël’s side, and the expectation is that he will be thrown straight back into the starting XI. Wednesday operated with a patched-up defence last weekend after Max Lowe joined Iorfa on the list of absentees due to a hamstring problem.
Although there have been positive signs with Lowe’s recovery, Pedersen has stopped short of confirming whether he would be available for the trip to Blackburn, meaning it is entirely possible he will be absent for the second game running. In the event of that being the case, Liam Palmer, who played an important role in both of Wednesday’s goals last weekend, could operate as the left-sided centre-back once again.
With Palmer conducting that role and Iorfa expected to come back into the team and start on the right of the back-three, Liam Cooper could be reinstated to the starting XI after only being fit enough for a place on the bench last weekend.
Cooper’s only start for Wednesday so far saw him line up alongside Iorfa and Lowe in the back-three.
Keep an eye on Guðjohnsen
Few players in the Championship are in better form than Blackburn striker Andri Guðjohnsen right now. The Icelandic international, who is the son of former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eiður, scored his sixth goal in his last eight games on Tuesday night, scoring the opener in Rovers’ 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town.
Recruited from Gent in the summer, the 23-year-old has shown signs of life in recent weeks after recently requiring time to adapt to the cut and thrust nature of the Championship. The imposing marksman is good in the air, can bring others into play, and has demonstrated he can position himself in the right place at the right time to score.
With three goals in his last four games, he is a man in form right now. Wednesday’s defenders need to pay very close attention to him.
Halt the losing streak
Having had another six points deducted at the beginning of this week, even the faintest hopes Wednesday had of staying in the Championship this season are now dead and buried. The Owls are 27 points from safety and have won just one of their opening 18 matches this season, highlighting the scale of the challenge they now face.
Nevertheless, Wednesday can’t give up on trying to pick up three points, not least to keep the spirits of the players and the supporters up. Except for the Steel City derby defeat to Sheffield United almost a fortnight ago, the Owls have been competitive in just about every game they have played in this term.
With that in mind, they will be of the belief they can halt their four-game losing run in Lancashire. Wednesday last lost five league games on the bounce in the second half of the 2020/21 season (a run of seven games).
McNeill’s goal hunt
After ending his wait for a first Championship goal by scoring twice last weekend, McNeill will be out to try and build on that brace. It was unfortunate he missed the opportunity to complete his hat-trick via the penalty spot, but Pedersen was delighted with his performance post-match, insisting he is on track to becoming a “Championship player”.
The former Manchester United man was aggressive from the first whistle against North End, leading the Wednesday press. It was the type of performance that he now needs to try and ensure becomes a regular thing.
After scoring twice last time out, he will be attempting to become the first Wednesday player to score in back-to-back Championship games this season.