Sheffield Wednesday boss Tony Pulis looking to get one over on ex-Owls forward

The Owls take on a Coventry City side unbeaten in eight and with one of the best recent defensive records in the division.

The Sky Blues arrive for their first match at S6 in over 11 years with former Wednesday player Mark Robins in the dugout. Robins masterminded their promotion to the Championship last season and has attracted praise for his side’s taking to second tier conditions.

Defender Joost van Aken has joined the likes of Massimo Luongo, Julian Börner and Keiren Westwood on the sidelines of a club that alongside Derby County are the Championship’s lowest scorers.

“I like Mark,” Pulis said ahead of the clash. “I’ve been a good friend of Mark’s for a long time and I really respect Mark as an individual, he’s a smashing lad.

“He’s done a wonderful job at Coventry and it’ll be a tough game, we know every game will be tough in this league. We’re not going to have everybody fit, to pick a team with real competition.

“But whatever team we put out, we’ve got to make sure that that team runs around and has a go.”

Pulis refused to give anything away on any changes he intended to make in order to aid Wednesday’s pursuit of goals but did express a need for his side to go at the game as positively as they can.

They were too passive, he felt, in a 2-0 midweek defeat at Nottingham Forest.

“I think first half against Forest we gave a terrible goal away, an absolutely horrible goal,” he said. “They had one chance on the counter attack and were able to really control the game.

“We need to make sure we go into it as positive as we can.

“We’ll try to pick a team tomorrow to win a game of football. A win would give everybody a big, big lift.

“People talk about the finances and the wages and this, that and everything else, but the biggest thing for this football club right now is to win a game of football.”

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