Sheffield Wednesday head to Middlesbrough on Wednesday night still staring at the table from the wrong end of it, but not arriving in complete disarray. Recent results have not transformed the bigger picture, and they have certainly not solved the lack of cutting edge that has dogged this side for so long, but they have at least shown a team still competing, still organised and still willing to make games difficult.
That was the story again against Charlton Athletic. Gabriel Otegbayo’s equaliser earned Wednesday a deserved point, and the performance itself carried enough control and resilience to suggest there is still some fight in this group. The frustration, once again, was that too much of the good work faded where it counted most. Wednesday stayed in the game, handled spells well and gave themselves a platform, but the final third remained the missing piece.
That pattern has not just appeared once. The goalless draw at Coventry City was built on one of Wednesday’s most disciplined defensive displays of the season, while the point against Leicester City also showed a side capable of sticking in games rather than folding out of them. The issue is obvious enough now. Wednesday have looked more stubborn than they did earlier in the campaign, but stubbornness alone does not win enough matches at this level.
Oddly enough, that gives them a slightly stronger recent run than Middlesbrough. It sounds strange to say given the league positions, but Wednesday’s recent sequence has at least contained a measure of stability, with draws against Charlton, Coventry and Leicester offering something to build on. Boro, by contrast, come into this one on a seven-match winless run and with the mood around them very different to where it was only a few weeks ago.
That is what makes the shape of this game interesting. Middlesbrough are 5th and still only three points off the automatic promotion places, but recent results have left them under real pressure. Their 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town on Sunday stretched their winless spell again and dealt another blow to hopes of going up automatically. They are still very much in the race, but they are no longer moving with any confidence. They are chasing, looking upwards and trying to keep their season alive, but the momentum has gone.
That matters for Wednesday because it shifts where the tension sits. Middlesbrough will go into the night knowing they are expected to beat a side below them, and expected to do it at a point in the season when every dropped point feels heavier. Riverside will want a response. Wednesday’s task is to make sure that response does not come easily.
There is also enough in the recent history of this fixture to suggest this is not one Middlesbrough can simply take for granted. Recent meetings have been more competitive than the table might lead people to assume, and Wednesday have shown more than once that they can make this opponent uncomfortable. That does not change the size of the challenge, but it does support the idea that this is a fixture in which Wednesday can stay alive if they get the basics right.
Team selection will play into that. Svante Ingelsson looks a likely absentee because of his knee issue, which could take some energy and drive out of midfield. Nathaniel Chalobah may also be a player whose minutes need to be managed with the games coming quickly, especially after his recent workload. That could leave Henrik Pedersen with a decision to make over Marvelous Nakamba. If Nakamba is ready to start, or at least ready for a bigger role, this may be the kind of game where his presence and experience become important.
The midfield balance feels important here. Wednesday have been at their best recently when they have stayed compact, protected the back line and made the game awkward. If they can reproduce the discipline they showed at Coventry and combine it with the calmer spells they found against Charlton, then they should give themselves a chance of dragging Middlesbrough into a more uncomfortable contest than the home side will want.
But the final step is the same one Wednesday have been trying to take for weeks. Resilience has been there. Organisation has been there. Effort has been there too. What has not followed often enough is the quality and conviction in attacking areas to turn decent performances into wins. Another solid display with little threat would keep the pattern intact, but it would not change much.
So the opportunity at Middlesbrough is clear enough. Wednesday are not going there as a side in good form, but they are going there as one that has shown signs of fight. Boro have everything to play for, but they also have pressure, doubt and a crowd that will expect them to take control. If Wednesday can stay in the game, frustrate them and find more in the final third than they have managed in recent weeks, there is room to make the night awkward.