Aim to strengthen position within the top 6 championship tableWrexham travel to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

The hosts are at the bottom of the table with -7 points, while the visiting nation currently leads seventh place by one point.

match preview

Wednesday’s Sheffield return to Championship action on Saturday looking to break out of a major rut and begin their climb towards positive points.

Facing an unenviable campaign with limited teams and a total of 18 point deductions since taking office in October, the Owls have been unable to overcome the odds so far and are languishing at -7 points with only one win and eight draws from 28 games so far.

Since their only win in September, Henrik Pedersen’s side are without a win in 22 league games, with five straight defeats heading into the weekend and six games in all competitions without a win, leaving them with a league-high 56 goals conceded, but no team has conceded fewer than 18 goals.

The South Yorkshire side have failed to score in their last seven games, most recently losing 2-0 to Birmingham City and Bristol City in the league, and were conceded to Scott Twine and Sam Bell at Ashton Gate last weekend.

With no end in sight yet and facing further problems in the January transfer window, Sheffield Wednesday are 23rd in the table, 34 points adrift and 37 points from safety, but they will at least try to end their long drought with their first home league win of the season on Saturday.

But the visitors face a tough test as they arrive looking to strengthen their position in the play-off spots.

Wrexham’s first season back in the Championship after three successive promotions from England’s fifth tier has continued their impressive rise so far this term, with them currently sitting sixth in the table with 44 points from 29 games.

This is due to their excellent away results, with only five wins and four losses from their 14 league games so far, with all three points coming recently against Queens Park Rangers.

The Red Dragons, whose four-game winning streak was halted by a loss to Norwich City and a draw with Leicester City in mid-January, visited England’s capital last weekend and came from behind to win 3-2 in dramatic fashion, leveling the scores through Josh Windass in the 93rd minute before Oliver Rathbone scored the winning goal with a long-range strike late in stoppage time.

This kept Wrexham in the top six, but they are still just one point ahead of seventh-placed Bristol City and will be hoping for another win on Saturday to start building a cushion over the pack behind them.

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form:

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Wrexham Championship form:

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Wrexham Form (all competitions):

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team news

Sheffield Wednesday’s small squad continues to be hit by injuries, with Pierce Charles, Dominic Iorfa, Dishon Bernard, Ernie Weaver, Max Lowe, Nathaniel Chalobah, Olaf Kovaci and Ike Ugbo still sidelined.

They are also weakened by the January losses of Harry Amas, Esa Alao and talismanic captain Barry Bannan, who departed for Millwall this week after a 10-year spell with the Owls.

Manchester City loanee Jaden Heskey will take on more midfield responsibilities in Bannan’s absence, but Charlie McNeil, Bailey Cadamartelli and Jamal Rowe will all be expected to start in attack.

Wrexham will use the same starting XI as last week’s away win against QPR, with Lewis Brunt, Elliott Lee and Ryan Hardy remaining absent.

However, there is some competition for a starting spot with Oliver Rathbone and former Sheffield Wednesday attacker Josh Windass scoring crucial goals off the bench in this game.

However, Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore will want to maintain their places up front, with Kieffer Moore having scored 10 league goals so far this season, and Issa Cavoa and George Thomasson providing further attacking support from their wing-back roles.

Sheffield Wednesday starters:

Cooper. Palmer, Otegbayo, McGee, Johnson. Heskey, Ingelson. Redmond, Cadamartelli, McNeil. J. Rowe

Wrexham’s predicted starting lineup:

Okonkwo; Higham, Scar, Doyle. Kabore, Thief, Rathbone, Thomason. windurst, moore, broadhead

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 Wrexham

Buoyed by their last away win and on track to return to the top six, Wrexham should have enough quality to get past Wednesday’s depleted Sheffield side on Saturday, who lacked confidence and were depleted.

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