Sheffield Wednesday are about to face their biggest test this season - and it will expose Dejphon Chansiri's failings
Sheffield Wednesday are bottom of the Championship on -10, 27 points from safety, and they have not even faced their biggest challenge yet this season.
Saturday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers will mark the beginning of the most demanding period in Sheffield Wednesday’s season.
Their trip over the Pennines to Ewood Park will mark their first of six December fixtures and their first of eight Championship outings in just 30 days. It is going to be a mammoth task for a squad that is already down to the bare bones.
The relentless nature of the Christmas and New Year period is often relished by supporters, as it gives them hope and optimism that their team will spread even more festive cheer at the most wonderful time of the year. Wednesdayites will not be expecting much joy to be spread this festive period.
Despite producing arguably their best performance of the season against Preston North End on Saturday, the Owls were beaten by the odd goal in five, losing 3-2, condemning them to a fourth successive Championship defeat. Manager Henrik Pedersen was deeply frustrated post-match, and you had to share a feeling of sympathy towards the Dane, who is working night and day to try and make as good a fist as possible of what is a miserable situation.
Confirmation of another six points being deducted from the Owls’ tally on Monday, leaving them on -10, only strengthened that feeling of sympathy any right-minded football supporter must have for a manager and a group of players who have been left to pick up the pieces in a situation they are completely blameless in.
Now 27 points adrift, it will be hard for Pedersen to keep his players motivated for the rest of the season. Though neither he nor his players can publicly admit they expect to be relegated, they will, internally, know the game is well and truly up. Wednesday are not going to survive from here.
Although Pedersen and the players were criticised after the manner of the derby day defeat to Sheffield United just over a week ago, Wednesday, in their defence, have put up a strong fight in every other game this season, pouring as much effort into each of them as possible. It is just frustrating they froze in the game that actually mattered.
Nevertheless, there is no point dwelling on the past; what’s done is done. Now the Owls, somehow, must try and navigate their way through a jam-packed schedule that is once again going to take its toll on this group of players, both physically and mentally.
The size of the squad means Pedersen has not been able to adequately rotate his team this season, forcing him to rely on the same faces week-in, week-out. Three-game weeks have been particularly challenging, hence why Wednesday have lost the third game of those sequences on each of the four occasions they have come around so far this term.
The festive period looks daunting for Wednesday
Fortunately for Pedersen, Wednesday will get a few days extra to recover for Derby County’s visit to Hillsborough later this month after it was moved to Monday, December 15, for live broadcast on Sky Sports. It means the Owls will get almost a week to prepare for the clash with the Rams after facing Watford at Vicarage Road next Tuesday night.
The clash with Derby, though, will mark the beginning of a fixture marathon, with six games to be played in 21 days, concluding with a trip to the capital to face QPR on January 4.
Although Wednesday hope to recover some of their injured stars during the upcoming period, they are highly likely to lose Yan Valery and Sean Fusire to the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON], which will only weaken the squad. As brilliant as it will be for both players to represent their respective nations at an international tournament, it will be an obstacle Wednesday could have done without this season.
Having signed Liam Cooper and Nathan Redmond to occupy the two free agent voids they were granted permission to fill, no more additions can be made before the end of the year. It remains to be seen what the Owls will be allowed to do come the January transfer window.
With December’s schedule jam-packed and the Owls facing trips to Preston and QPR in the first four days of 2026, they are going to make the most of what they have available to them.
But with the upcoming period shaping up to be a daunting challenge, it is only going to expose the size and the scale of the damage former owner Dejphon Chansiri has left behind. The squad is too small to cope with the festive schedule, and it will only remind everyone of the damage Chansiri has caused.