Two Sheffield Wednesday matches later this season have been selected for live TV coverage.

The Owls, now managed by Dave Challinor, are ninth in League One. The new boss starts his tenure with two cup games, away to Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup first round on Sunday, followed by the final group match of the EFL Trophy against Accrington Stanley at Hillsborough on Wednesday.

Challinor is hoping that the initial work he and his coaching staff have done with the squad will be noticeable but he expects that it will take time. Although Wednesday have only won one of their last eight in the league, they are still in touch with the teams at the top. They trail leaders Huddersfield Town by nine points but have a game in hand, while they are only two points off Reading in sixth, who have also played one match more.

Challinor knows what it takes to go on a good run in this division having done so at his former club Stockport County, narrowly missing out on promotion to Bolton in the play-off final last season. Wednesday will be hoping to build some momentum and be firmly in the promotion race in the second-half of the campaign.

And that might have come into the thinking of Sky Sports when selecting their next batch of live games. Wednesday’s scheduled home clash against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, January 23 will remain on the same date but the kick-off has moved from 3pm to 12.30pm. And their trip to Wigan Athletic will also start at 12.30pm. The date of Saturday, February 20 is unchanged.

Before then, The Owls are also on Sky Sports away at Barnsley on Friday, November 20 with an 8pm kick-off. That could be Challinor’s first league game in charge if the visit of Plymouth Argyle on November 14 is postponed due to international call-ups.