After three straight league draws, Sheffield Wednesday are back at Hillsborough on Saturday (3pm) for the first of five games in fifteen days. AFC Wimbledon are the visitors. On paper this is the kind of game a promotion side has to win, and Wednesday's home form makes it less straightforward than it should be.
Wednesday are seventh on 15 points from eight games, with four wins, three draws and one defeat. Wimbledon are 11th on 12 points from nine, with three wins, three draws and three defeats. A win would take Henrik Pedersen's side to 18 points, one behind leaders Plymouth, and they would still have games in hand on everyone above them.
Rescued at Huddersfield
Saturday's 2–2 at the Accu Stadium was a point rather than a performance. Wednesday looked rusty and lacked threat for most of the afternoon, and it took nearly an hour for them to register a shot. An 88th-minute Ibane Bowat own goal gave them a lifeline, and Jamal Lowe converted a 98th-minute penalty after Liam Cooper took a boot to the head from Marcus Harness. Four of Lowe's seven goals this season have come from the spot, and all three of his open-play goals have come at Hillsborough.
Pedersen was frank about the slow start, saying his side didn't need to "play romantic football in our own half" against Huddersfield's press. The late fightback showed character. It also showed what this team can do when it plays forward with urgency, and Saturday is the time to do that from the first whistle.
The Hillsborough problem
This is the big talking point. Strip out the 7–2 win over Bromley and Wednesday haven't scored in a home league game this season: a 1–0 defeat to Bradford, then goalless draws with Wigan and Stockport. Louie Barry's absence has been felt more than expected, particularly at home, and Wimbledon are another side likely to come to frustrate.
That makes Saturday a test of whether Pedersen has found a way to break down a set defence. Harry Gray looks the most natural fit on the left while Barry is out, and Davis Keillor-Dunn changed the game when he came on at half-time at Huddersfield. Both have a strong case to start.
Sheffield Wednesday team news
Barry remains out with the ankle injury he picked up at Wycombe in September, with Wednesday hoping to have him back after the November international break. The club are still awaiting test results on a groin problem Ricardo Santos picked up against Sunderland's under-21s.
Cooper finished the Huddersfield game with his head bandaged, but nothing since suggests he'll miss out. Di'Shon Bernard started at the Accu Stadium and continues to build his fitness.
The main boost is Ali Al-Hamadi, who is in line to face his old club. He scored 27 goals in 48 appearances for Wimbledon, has made four appearances for Wednesday without starting, and is back in training after pulling out of Iraq duty with an ankle problem. Pedersen said the forward's training "went really well". If he's fit, Pedersen has to decide which of his six loan players drops out of the matchday squad.
Max Lowe had been pencilled in for a return around the Wimbledon or Notts County games, and he and Sil Swinkels have both stepped up training this week. Jordi Liongola is still a couple of weeks away.
AFC Wimbledon
Johnnie Jackson's side arrive on the back of a late defeat. Their four-game unbeaten league run ended at Plymouth, where Xavier Amaechi's 95th-minute winner cancelled out Jayden Stockley's opener. They have scored seven and conceded ten in nine league games, so they're not a side that has been blowing teams away.
Their defence is the area to target. Isaac Ogundere, a key figure for the Dons this season, went off after 17 minutes at Home Park with a groin problem and was due to be scanned. Jackson admitted he was "likely to probably miss a little while". Centre-back Dan Sweeney (hernia) and attacker Donnell McNeilly (hamstring) are both expected to miss a few weeks. Ollie Harrison took a kick to the ankle but Jackson expects him to be fine.
Recent meetings
The sides have met twice in the league, both in 2021/22. It finished 2–2 at Plough Lane in October 2021, and Wednesday won the return 2–1 at Hillsborough the following April, with Lee Gregory scoring a very late winner.
Coverage
As a 3pm Saturday kick-off, the game won't be shown live in the UK.
The verdict
Wimbledon are mid-table, short at the back and haven't kept many clean sheets. Wednesday are unbeaten in seven league games and have the better players. If Pedersen's side can't create chances against this opponent at home, the questions about the attack will get louder. A win, and a performance to go with it, would set them up nicely for the trip to Notts County on Tuesday.
Sources: The Star, Yorkshire Post
Image: SWFC Official