A week ago Wednesday were putting five past AFC Wimbledon and the mood around Hillsborough was as good as it had been all season. Tuesday at Meadow Lane undid most of that. The nine-game unbeaten run ended with a 2-0 defeat to Notts County, with Daniel Kanu scoring a first-half penalty and Darius Lipsiuc adding a second. The scoreline flattered us. We didn't manage a single shot on target all night, and once Jamal Lowe was dismissed the game was over as a contest.
It was the kind of night that makes Saturday's short trip up the road far bigger than a routine away day against a struggling side.
Pedersen needs a response
For the first time this season, a section of the away end chanted for Henrik Pedersen to go. That feels premature for a side still sitting in the play-off places, but the frustration is understandable. The Notts display had none of the conviction we saw against Wimbledon, and the manager didn't dodge it, saying afterwards that "to win football games in League One, the basic has to be top."
He's right, and it's on him to make sure Saturday looks nothing like Tuesday. A derby against a side in the bottom five is exactly the fixture where a wobble either gets stopped or turns into something worse.
Wednesday team news
Selection is suddenly awkward. Lowe is out after his straight red for a late challenge on Jacob Bedeau, and Callum Slattery is banned too after picking up his fifth booking of the season. Losing our top league scorer and one of our more energetic attacking midfielders at the same time is a blow. It does leave a place in the three behind the striker for someone to take, has Kieran Morrison done enough off the bench to deserve a start?
The bigger worry is Di'Shon Bernard, who limped off early at Meadow Lane. The encouraging part is that it's the opposite knee to the one that kept him out for over 18 months, and he was improving after the game, but he's still waiting on an assessment. If he isn't fit, this is surely the time for Ernie Weaver. Otegbayo had a night to forget on Tuesday, giving away the penalty and then being substituted himself, and Weaver's planned loan to Hornchurch was called off the morning after Bernard's injury. That decision only makes sense if the club sees him as part of the picture now. He's 20, he's fully over his foot injury, and he's had just two substitute appearances in the league this season. Throwing him into a derby is a risk, but a smaller one than sticking with what went wrong on Tuesday.
The positive is that Ali Al-Hamadi is back in contention after his ankle problem and played the whole second half on Tuesday. With Lowe suspended, this looks like his chance to lead the line from the start.
The opposition
Doncaster are in a bad way. Grant McCann's side have taken nine points from their opening ten games, sit 19th, and are already nine points off the play-offs. They come into this on the back of a second straight league defeat, 2-0 at home to Stockport on Tuesday, after losing at Leicester the previous weekend.
Their injury list is long. McCann said after Stockport that he had ten players missing, with James Husband, Jamie Sterry, Jack Senior, Jordan Thomas and Tommi O'Reilly among them and Frankie Okoronkwo out for the rest of the year. Home form has been a problem as well: they only got their first home win of the season on 10 October, beating Burton 1-0.
That doesn't make this a gimme. Struggling sides at home in a derby, especially against a team that has just been embarrassed, tend to raise themselves. If we start as limply as we did at Notts, Doncaster will smell it.
The view from here
This is a game we should win. Wednesday have won more away games than anyone in League One, and Doncaster have won the fewest at home. We're the better side even without Lowe and Slattery, and Doncaster's squad is being held together with tape.
But the 5-0 against Wimbledon is hiding a worrying run. Take that game out and the other four league results read 0-0 at home to Wigan, 0-0 at home to Stockport, 2-2 at Huddersfield and the defeat at Notts. That's one win in five, and two home games in which we barely threatened. Wimbledon showed what this team looks like when Bannan and Keillor-Dunn are on the ball and the front line is moving, but one big afternoon doesn't erase a month of struggling for goals. We need that version back at Doncaster, and quickly, before the noise around the manager gets louder.
Prediction: Doncaster 1-2 Wednesday.
Sources: Sheffield Wednesday FC, The Star, Doncaster Free Press, Sky Sports.
Image credit : Visit Doncaster