Sheffield Wednesday host Stockport County at Hillsborough on Saturday, a fixture both clubs will have circled since the season started. Henrik Pedersen's side go into the weekend top of League One with 13 points from six games, while Jimmy McNulty's Stockport sit eighth on nine, only four points off the top despite results that have swung between very good and fairly shaky. More than 30,000 are expected at Hillsborough, with the away end sold out.
Two sides that haven't quite settled yet
Wednesday's position at the top has come without much consistency in front of goal. They lost 0-1 at home to Bradford City, beat Bromley 7-2 nine days later, and were held goalless again by Wigan Athletic on Saturday. Nonetheless, thirteen points from six games on paper is an outstanding start.
Stockport arrive as the division's top scorers with 16 goals, including a 3-0 win on the opening day at Plymouth Argyle and four at Wigan Athletic a fortnight ago, but they've also conceded 10, four of them at home to Leicester City last time out. If Wednesday can rediscover the attacking edge they showed against Bromley and tighten up defensively, there should be chances to take advantage of.
McNulty took over as Stockport head coach in June, replacing Dave Challinor after a four-and-a-half-year reign that had taken the club from the National League to the top end of League One, including last season's play-off final defeat to Bolton Wanderers. The club Challinor left behind was largely built by Simon Wilson, Stockport's chief executive under owner Mark Stott before he became Sheffield Wednesday's own sporting director. More on what Wilson has said about Wednesday's transfer strategy since taking that job.
Valery a doubt, loan quota still a factor
Yan Valery is a doubt after going off with a knee injury in Saturday's draw with Wigan, with his fitness for the weekend still to be confirmed. Ricardo Santos, who joined from Bolton Wanderers in the summer, was also subbed off, though Pedersen described it as cramp rather than anything more serious. Liam Cooper and Billy Mitchell continue to be managed carefully, Max Lowe's hamstring injury will keep him out for a few more weeks yet, and excluding Dish who played for the U21 earlier this week, I’d say Swinkels looks the closest of the longer-term absentees to a return.
Wednesday are also still working around their loan quota, they have six loan players registered but can only name five in a matchday squad, and it was Jaden Heskey who missed out against Wigan, with Pedersen opting for more attacking options on the bench. The left side of midfield remains unsettled, Harry Gray is back from injury and pushing for a start, Jamal Lowe, already on five goals and League One's Player of the Month for August looks the most likely to stay through the middle.
Wigan also found success by man-marking Barry Bannan out of the game at Hillsborough, and Stockport's own supporters expect a similar approach on Saturday.
I personally would like to see some consistency with selections at the back but easier said than done when you’re managing injuries and match fitness. I did think Otegabayo actually had a good 20 minutes and hopefully that’s a performance he can build on if called upon.
The view from Stockport
Steve, from the Stockport podcast The Scarf Bar Wagga, spoke to Owls Extra ahead of the game and was candid about where his side's problems lie. County, he said, "are ridiculous going forward" but keep conceding from corners and set pieces, which he sees as their most likely way of losing this one. He also described Stockport as a genuine possession side even away from home, putting their share of the ball at 55 to 60 per cent in most games, and expects McNulty's team to try to match Wednesday rather than sit in and defend.
Three Stockport players worth knowing: Ollie Norwood, the 35-year-old captain, who Steve called "the best player I've ever seen play for Stockport County" for his passing range and set-piece delivery; Jack Diamond, voted the club's own Player of the Month for August out on the wing; and centre-back Ethan Pye, who signed a new contract in July after being linked with a move away. Steve's own prediction for Saturday was a 2-2 draw.
Both sides have shown they can score goals and both have shown they can concede them — usually the recipe for an entertaining afternoon, whatever it ends up doing to the table.