Sunderland vs Sheffield Wednesday: Lee Johnson confirms Covid-19 cases and sleepless nights before Owls clash

Unlike Darren Moore’s Owls, the Black Cats have been in action over the festive period, losing 5-1 to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup before picking up a comfortable 3-0 win over Doncaster Rovers on Monday afternoon.

Johnson’s outfit are set to play host to fellow promotion chasers, Wednesday, on Thursday evening at the Stadium of Light, and everybody involved is hoping that the game can go ahead following the postponement of the Owls’ last two matches due to a Covid-19 outbreak.

But while Moore’s side are thought to be coming through the worst of the virus spread at Middlewood Road, their opponents have confirmed that they had a couple of new cases before facing Rovers.

Speaking after the game, which took them up to second place, Johnson told the media, "We've had a couple out with Covid-19… Aiden O'Brien was out today after testing positive. We've also had Jordan Willis and Ellis Taylor testing positive. It is tricky because you don't know what your team is going to be.

"I hardly slept last night because all I could think about was people mixing, the lateral flows etc. We've just got to be agile, and the good thing is we have got players who can be tactically flexible."

Wednesday will be hoping to complete a league double and make it 13 games without defeat in the North East on Thursday, but will face a tough task against a Black Cats side who have won five of their last eight league games.

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