Sheffield Wednesday man looking forward to battle with old Owls transfer target as Charlton Athletic come to town

Sheffield Wednesday will face off against one of League One’s most feared forwards at Hillsborough this afternoon – but the focus will be on imposing their own plans on Charlton Athletic.
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That’s the message of centre-half Michael Ihiekwe, who speaking to The Star ahead of the clash made clear he was relishing the chance to do battle with Addicks front man Jayden Stockley, a former Wednesday transfer target.

Stockley is known in the league for his rough-and-tumble playing style and looks set to come up against a three-man Owls defence ready to give as good as they get.

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“I’m looking forward to it,” Ihiekwe said. “We played against him last year a few times and everybody knows his strengths and stuff like that.

Jayden Stockley looks set to lead the line against Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon.Jayden Stockley looks set to lead the line against Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon.
Jayden Stockley looks set to lead the line against Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon.

“At the same time, we need to focus on ourselves. We’re at home, we need to start the game quick and put in a performance ourselves.

“You need to take it all into consideration, the strengths of other teams and players. I’m looking forward to it.”

Charlton have started their campaign in a similar vein to Wednesday, taking a draw and a win from their first two matches and winning in the Carabao Cup against Championship opposition in midweek.

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Under new manager Ben Gardner, they’ll look to play on the front foot, an intention the home side will want to stamp out from the outset, Darren Moore said.

“Ben [Garner] has taken over and brought in fresh ideas,” Moore said. “They are a team on the attacking front that are front foot. They get the ball down and play with their patterns. They have got a wonderful attacking element about them.

“You can see their work in transition and the work Ben is putting into them. They will come up here very confident and in buoyant mood. It is a great game for us.

“We played them on the opening day of last season and had to put in a really good shift to come away with the point and we won the return fixture at our place. We expect a tough game.

“They have got some wonderful attacking players in their team with great flair and we are going to have to be really concentrated and defensively at our best.”