Why there'll be 'freedom' in Sheffield Wednesday's set-up at Fulham tonight

Garry Monk is expected to ring the changes once more for Sheffield Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round tie at Fulham this evening.
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Navigating a devilish early-season fixtures schedule that will see all four of the competition’s early round shoehorned into September, several first team players are understood to have not made the trip to London as the Owls boss continues to rotate a squad that is unbeaten in four competitive matches.

Asked whether the clash, which will see the winners travel to either West Brom or Brentford in the fourth round, can be seen as something of a free-hit for the club, Monk said: “I think so, playing against a Premier League side, all we've got is our own standard.

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"We want to perform to our own standard and you've seen that in the cup games so far, especially up against Rochdale and through all the league games. If we can keep up to our own standards, we know we've got a good chance of beating anybody.”

ROCHDALE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15:  Joey Pelupessy of Sheffield Wednesday runs past Oliver Rathbone of Rochdale during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday at Crown Oil Arena on September 15, 2020 in Rochdale, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)ROCHDALE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15:  Joey Pelupessy of Sheffield Wednesday runs past Oliver Rathbone of Rochdale during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday at Crown Oil Arena on September 15, 2020 in Rochdale, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
ROCHDALE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Joey Pelupessy of Sheffield Wednesday runs past Oliver Rathbone of Rochdale during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday at Crown Oil Arena on September 15, 2020 in Rochdale, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Monk is once again expected to name a youthful squad for the match but has no qualms in doing so after his young Owls won out 2-0 at Rochdale last week.

Fulham play host off the back of consecutive league defeats and will be keen to build momentum. They sneaked through the challenge of League One Ipswich 1-0 in the last round thanks to a winner from Aleksander Mitrovic.

“It's a difficult game but one we'll look forward to,” Monk said. “We deserve to be there, and we'll have a good go at it.

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“We'll go down there, keep on doing what we've been doing, showing the right attitude that we have been doing, with the right attitude to try and win the game and play well.

"There'll be a bit of freedom in us in terms of going to a Premier League club, but like anything, we're just trying to build everything all the time.

“We've done very well in the cup these last two rounds, we want to try and make sure that in this third round we do just as well as we have in the last two.”

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