Sheffield Wednesday’s steady progress under new manager, Garry Monk, continued on Friday night with a point away from home in the televised 1-1 draw away at Cardiff City which means that Monk’s new side have suffered just 1 defeat out of their last 6 matches overall in the Championship.
Wednesday’s one defeat during this recent 6-match sequence was a narrow 1-0 loss away at Hull City but wins over Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic have helped maintain The Owls’ challenge for a possible play-off spot later in the season.
Sheffield Wednesday sit in 8th place and are just 1 point adrift of 6th placed Preston North End, so all three points against visitors, Stoke City, at Hillsborough on Tuesday night could see Sheffield Wednesday move into the top six.
The hosts have lost just 1 of their opening 5 matches at Hillsborough so far in this new campaign which was a 2-1 loss to QPR, but having dealt out defeats to Barnsley, Luton Town and Wigan Athletic, The Owls will be confident they can grab all three points in this clash.
After literally months of frustration and disappointment, finally Stoke City’s fans have had something to cheer about in manager, Nathan Jones’s tenure at The Potters as the visitors have registered back-to-back wins either side of the international break.
Wins recorded against 3rd placed Swansea City and Fulham seemed highly unlikely given Stoke’s woeful 16-match sequence without a win in the Championship, but the owners have stuck by Jones far longer than previous managers, and they now seem to have been rewarded for their endless patience in the Welsh manager.
It will no doubt be interesting to see if Stoke City really have turned the corner in terms of an upturn in fortunes and form, and this trip to face an in-form and solid outfit in the shape of Sheffield Wednesday will be a good yardstick for Jones and his squad to measure against on Tuesday night.
The fact remains though, that Stoke have managed to register just 1 win out of their first 5 away matches of this new Championship season (at Swansea City), and having suffered defeats at Charlton Athletic, Preston North End and Birmingham City, Stoke still look to have their work cut out ahead of this clash.
Sheffield Wednesday could therefore just nick the points in this one.