Sheffield Wednesday could set unimaginable record in Championship fixture vs Charlton Athletic

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to build on last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Coventry City when they welcome Charlton Athletic to Hillsborough this afternoon.

The Owls, who were beaten 2-1 by the Addicks at The Valley back in October, surprised everyone by earning a point against the league leaders at the Coventry Building Society Arena, putting the Sky Blues’ promotion party on hold in the process.

Wednesday defended resolutely throughout the contest, deservedly coming away with a share of the spoils, meaning they will be determined to build on that in their quest to secure a first victory since September when Charlton come to town.

Ahead of the visit of Nathan Jones’ side, here are five pre-match talking points...

Ingelsson a doubt

Wednesday might have to make do without midfielder Svante Ingelsson this afternoon after manager Henrik Pedersen, speaking at yesterday’s pre-match press conference, confirmed the Swede is a “big doubt” because of a knee injury. The former Hansa Rostock man had struggled to train ahead of last weekend’s stalemate with Coventry and was substituted with just 61 minutes on the clock.

Pedersen has now revealed he is facing a race against time to be fit for the clash with Charlton, admitting he might require surgery, be that sooner or later. He hopes to find out in the coming days if surgery, if necessary, can be delayed until after the end of the season.

Pedersen said: “We hope that he can still be part of the final games, but we are also waiting to see if he needs surgery or not in the season or shortly after the season. We will see tomorrow (Saturday) how it is, and then I think we will make the next step in the coming days.”

If Ingelsson is deemed unavailable for today’s game, it will mark just the third Championship fixture he has missed this season, previously missing out against QPR (A) and Swansea City (A).

Any other changes?

Based on the successful nature of last weekend’s performance against Coventry, Pedersen, ideally, would probably love to be able to name the exact same starting XI this afternoon. However, the fact Ingelsson has been described as a “big doubt” suggests a minimum of one change will be on the cards.

Wednesday are not spoilt for choice in midfield, meaning Jarvis Thornton and Marvelous Nakamba are the most likely candidates to take Ingelsson’s place. The latter made just his third appearance for the Owls against Coventry, appearing from the bench in the second half, and could be in line for a first start for the club if Ingelsson is unavailable.

Elsewhere, Dominic Iorfa is back in contention for the visit of Charlton after missing the trip to Coventry after his wife gave birth. He will be pushing to earn a recall, but Wednesday’s excellent defensive performance against Frank Lampard’s side could convince Pedersen to stick with the same rearguard.

Time is running out

With the end of what has been a nightmare season now just a fortnight away, time is rapidly running out for Wednesday to try and avoid being relegated with a negative points tally and going an entire season without recording a home win. The Owls are winless in their last 37 matches in all competitions and have not won at Hillsborough since April 21 last year.

With the first anniversary of Wednesday’s last home win - a 2-1 triumph over Middlesbrough - now just days away, this afternoon’s visit of Charlton marks Wednesday’s last chance to avoid going a full calendar year without recording a single home win. It looked as though they were going to end that wait in their last S6 outing, but they were pegged back late on by Leicester City, drawing 1-1, meaning this is their last chance to avoid setting a record of going an entire year without a home victory.

Owls boss Pedersen has long since made it known that one of his primary goals before the end of the season is to oversee at least one home win. With just two home games left time is running out for the Dane to achieve his target.

As well as the visit of Charlton offering Wednesday their last chance to avoid going a full calendar year without winning at Hillsborough, it will also offer them their last opportunity to avoid going two full campaigns without registering a win in S6 in a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday. Their final day clash with West Bromwich Albion will get underway at 12.30pm.

Wednesday’s last home win at 3pm on a Saturday was almost two years ago when they beat West Brom 3-0 in their penultimate game of the 2023/24 season to all but seal Championship safety. The aforementioned win over Middlesbrough was sealed on Easter Monday.

A lucky omen?

If today is to be the day Wednesday finally end their long wait for a home win, maybe they are facing the ideal opponent. That is because the Owls have won each of their last four meetings with Charlton at Hillsborough.

Impressively, that sequence of results, produced between March 2016 and August 2022, saw Wednesday secure four successive home wins over the Londoners without conceding a single goal, recording one 3-0 triumph, a 2-0 win and two 1-0 successes.

Having kept four successive clean sheets at Hillsborough against the Addicks, Wednesday will be hoping to make it five straight wins and five successive shutouts against last season’s League One play-off final winners. Should they achieve that, it will mark the first time the Owls will have beaten the same opponent in five successive home league games without conceding since a run of five victories and five clean sheets against Grimsby Town between 1950 and 1979.

Charlton need a result

Although Charlton will arrive in South Yorkshire unbeaten in their last six away games, a run of five games without a win has sucked them back towards the thick of the relegation battle. They are currently 18th in the table, five points clear of the drop zone.

The recent improvements made by the likes of Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion and Oxford United have pulled Charlton back into the relegation conversation, meaning they will arrive at Hillsborough no doubt thinking they must take advantage of Wednesday’s situation.

After registering an impressive 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on March 11, Charlton found themselves nine points above the bottom three, meaning it looked as though safety was more or less guaranteed. However, a run of three defeats in their last five means they are by no means safe yet.

One more win might be just enough to see Charlton preserve their Championship status, and they will no doubt have identified a trip to Hillsborough as their best chance in their final four games to get maximum points on the board.