Relegation six-pointer as Sheffield Wednesday welcome Rotherham United to Hillsborough

Both Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham will be looking to pick up a vital three points in a game which could prove to have relegation implications.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to put their recent from behind them and avoid a fifth defeat on the bounce when they welcome Rotherham to Hillsborough who themselves have suffered a poor run of form having lost their last five games in a row, all of which were lost by a single goal.

This game could well be the catalyst to one of these teams surviving as we reach the final stretch of games but for whoever loses the game, it could well be one of the toughest defeats lately, especially for Sheffield Wednesday.

Darren Moore will also be taking charge of his first game for the Owls since being appointed earlier this week after a good season with Doncaster Rovers.

Team News

Kieran Westwood is expected to miss out with a broken rib so Joe Wildsmith should continue in goal with defender Liam Shaw also set to return after completing a two-match ban.

Moore will also be without Moses Odubajo, Andre Green and Massimo Luongo as they all miss out through injury.

For Rotherham they have injuries to Clark Robertson which could see Wes Harding occupy the centre-back role with Joe Mattack and Jamie Lindsay also set to miss out.

Michael Ihiekwe will also not play for the Millers as he serves the second game of a two-match suspension.

Manager’s Thoughts

Darren Moore told the Sheffield Wednesday website how important this game is for his side on Wednesday evening.

“I deal with the facts,” Moore said. “And with where we are now, we have a really important game on Wednesday night,” said Moore.

“We have got 14 games left in the Championship and we have to focus and keep our intention on where we are at this season.

“I want to be part of a unique team here and to build and make things better. I know there is work ahead, it’s not easy but sometimes roles and opportunities come along because the situation has not been easy.

“We know it’s a big game on Wednesday evening.”

Rotherham manager Paul Warne told the Rotherham website his thoughts on facing Darren Moore and Sheffield Wednesday.

“It is a massive shock and you know what football is like, we sort of hear everything before it is out there!

“When we sat here today doing the meeting on how we thought Sheffield Wednesday were going to play going through it with the analyst, all of a sudden he said that Darren had got the job,” said Warne

“All of a sudden, Darren has been playing a different system to what Sheffield Wednesday have been playing, he defends differently on set pieces and has different attacking set-pieces.

“Then you’re preparing to play a team like it is the first game of the season because you don’t know what team he’ll pick or which system he’ll use.

“Normally we’re really meticulous on our planning and this time we can’t be. Instead we’ll have to explain to the lads, how we’re going to beat them, rather than how we’re going to stop them.”

Head to head

These South Yorkshire rivals have met a lot in the past and over the past five meetings between the sides, they have all been competitive games.

Rotherham United beat the Owls 3-0 in the reverse fixture this season but before that hadn’t won the fixture since 2016.

Sheffield Wednesday have won two of the last five meetings with two 2-2 draws also being played out.

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