Henrik Pedersen could face a Sheffield Wednesday selection dilemma vs Preston North End
Sheffield Wednesday take on Preston North End at Deepdale on New Year’s Day.
Sheffield Wednesday will be eyeing a winning start to 2026 when they face Preston North End at Deepdale this afternoon.
The Owls, who were beaten 3-2 by North End as recently as November 29, brought 2025 to a close by producing a battling performance that earned them a point with a 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough on Monday night.
Earning a first clean sheet on home soil in over a year in the process, Wednesday are now two games unbeaten, drawing with both Hull City (2-2) and Blackburn in their opening two games of the festive period, meaning they will travel to Lancashire with an improved level of belief.
Amid the ongoing injury crisis, the situation, of course, is far from ideal for the Owls and manager Henrik Pedersen, but they are continuing to try and make the best of a bad situation. Ahead of the clash with Paul Heckingbottom’s side, here are five pre-match talking points:
Fusire could return
After Zimbabwe were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] on Monday evening, Owls chief Pedersen joked that he hoped Sean Fusire was already on a flight back to England amid his need to reintegrate him into the squad. The academy graduate has missed Wednesday’s last three matches after being called up to represent Zimbabwe at the tournament, leaving the Owls stretched even further.
Unfortunately for Fusire, neither his nor Zimbabwe’s AFCON adventure went according to plan. He failed to make a single appearance as Zimbabwe finished bottom of Group B, earning just one point from their three group games.
Fortunately for Wednesday, it means he could be back available as soon as this afternoon’s game. Pedersen, speaking in the immediate aftermath of Monday night’s draw with Blackburn, refused to rule him out for the trip to Deepdale, although he was unsure of exactly when the wing-back would be back in Sheffield.
The prospect of him being available will at least give Pedersen one extra option to play with when it comes to his matchday squad selection.
Centre-back conundrum
After Liam Cooper was forced to pull out of the starting XI against Blackburn less than an hour before kick-off due to experiencing a reaction to some medication, youngster Cole McGhee stepped in to take his place. Making his league debut, the 19-year-old barely put a foot wrong, helping the Owls earn a rare clean sheet.
Confirming Cooper’s absence was not injury related after the game, Pedersen expects the former Leeds United man to be available this afternoon, meaning he could have a bit of a selection dilemma on his hands.
Wednesday, albeit against an average Blackburn side, defended well on Monday evening, meaning Dominic Iorfa, Gabriel Otegbayo and McGhee all banked credit for their performances. Cooper, though, brings valuable experience to the table and could be thrown straight back into the team.
The fitness and condition of each individual will be at the forefront of Pedersen’s mind when making his selection, but he could find it hard to make a final decision if it proves to be a straight shoot-out between Cooper and McGhee to start at left-sided centre-back.
Wednesday’s New Year’s Day record
Just mentioning New Year’s Day will trigger fond memories for Wednesday supporters. It is, of course, exactly a year to the day since Josh Windass scored one of the greatest goals in the club’s history, scoring from inside his own half to help the Owls beat Derby County 4-2 at Hillsborough.
Having beaten Hull City 3-1 on New Year’s Day in 2024, Wednesday will be going for a third successive New Year’s Day triumph at Deepdale this afternoon. In fact, Wednesday have won each of their last three New Year’s Day assignments in the Championship, but each of them were at Hillsborough.
Staggeringly, today’s trip to Deepdale marks Wednesday’s first away game on New Year’s Day since 2005 - a 1-1 draw with Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in League One. Wednesday and Preston last met on New Year’s Day in 2008 and the Owls ran out 2-1 winners at Hillsborough via goals from Akpo Sodje and Francis Jeffers.
The Owls, this century, have played 13 games on New Year’s Day, winning seven, drawing two and losing four.
Preston are draw specialists
When it comes to mastering the art of drawing matches, few have been better at in England’s top four tiers so far this season than Preston. Ten of their opening 24 league games this season have finished level, meaning only Gillingham (11) have drawn more in the top four divisions.
Alongside Wrexham, who beat North End on Monday night, winning 2-1, Paul Heckingbottom’s side have drawn the most games in the Championship in 2025/26 thus far, with four of their last six outings finishing level.
North End, who are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings with the Owls, have registered five of their ten draws at home, drawing their last three on home soil after being tasked with coming from behind. They have won six points from losing positions at home so far this season.
Deepdale memories
Although Deepdale has been something of a bogey ground for Wednesday in recent years, winning just one of their last eight visits, it has been the scene of some memorable moments down the years.
Ask any Wednesdayite for their most vivid memory of a visit to Deepdale in the last 15 years or so and the chances are most of them will recall Adam Reach’s equaliser deep into added time, earning the Owls a 1-1 draw, on New Year’s Eve in 2016. The Owls were second best for much of the game, but Reach fired in a 94th minute leveller to earn them a share of the spoils, sparking wild scenes in the away end.
Wednesday also visited Deepdale towards the end of 2023 and won 1-0 on December 29 via a first half winner from Marvin Johnson to secure a fourth win in seven, boosting their survival hopes. Another memory of facing Preston at Deepdale that stands out is the 3-3 draw the two sides served up in the penultimate game of the 2018/19 season.
Trailing 2-0 and 3-1, Wednesday battled back to earn a point, scoring via Barry Bannan, Fernando Forestieri and Atdhe Nuhiu.