Sheffield Wednesday tasted defeat for the first time in a long time on Saturday when they went down 3-1 to play-off candidates Aston Villa at Hillsborough which ended an impressive run of 12 matches without a loss in the Championship.
Sheffield Wednesday will be given an immediate opportunity to set the record straight on Tuesday night when they once again hold home advantage at Hillsborough to play host to Nottingham Forest who also head into this encounter on the back of a loss on the weekend.
Sheffield Wednesday’s manager, Steve Bruce, has had an immediate effect upon The Owls after replacing former boss Jos Luhukay as the hosts have won four of their last seven matches at home with wins against Wigan Athletic, Swansea City, Brentford and Blackburn Rovers.
Indeed, The Owls have lost just once out of their last 11 matches on home turf and this has been helped by a solid defensive unit which has kept four clean sheets during this recent seven-match sequence.
Up front, Fletcher (10 goals) and Joao (9 goals) along with Matias and Forestieri (4 goals apiece) look the most likely to notch for the hosts here.
Nottingham Forest were also handed a defeat on the weekend when they suffered a 2-1 defeat away at relegation candidates Rotherham United which prevented the visitors from closing the gap on the play-off pack.
Inconsistent results have once again held Nottingham Forest back from making a serious challenge for a top six finish despite recent wins against Hull City and Swansea City as they’ve also been on the end of defeats to Aston Villa and the aforementioned Rotherham United.
Indeed, it’s been Nottingham Forest’s inability to pick up wins on their travels in this campaign which has really held the Tricky Trees back from being genuine play-off contenders as they’ve now gone 11 matches without success on the road.
Five defeats and six draws have been the return for the visitors since the end of November, and they’ll face a tough challenge in the shape of Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night no doubt.
The draw has featured prominently on behalf of both teams ahead of this clash with 8 stalemates for Sheffield Wednesday at home and a staggering 11 draws for Forest on their travels, meaning that 19 of their 40 matches combined have ended in stalemate.
With this in mind, the draw looks a likely outcome at Hillsborough on Tuesday night.