Sheffield Wednesday surrendered what could’ve been a valuable point late on at St Andrew’s at the weekend to kickstart some form, 19-year-old Jordan James scoring late on to win the game 2-1 for Birmingham City in what was Wayne Rooney’s first win as Blues boss since joining.
The Owls just can’t buy a positive result at the moment, winning only one of their 17 games in the second tier to date with a pitiful six points accumulated.
Danny Rohl will have a never-ending headache at the moment trying to work out what line-up could conjure up a desperately needed three points, with table-topping Leicester City licking their lips at the prospect of playing the Owls this mid-week.
Here’s what Rohl’s starting line-up could look like up against the Foxes on Wednesday…
1
GK – Cameron Dawson
Sheffield-born Cameron Dawson should retain his spot in between the sticks for the Leicester home match, the 6 foot 4 goalkeeper becoming Wednesday’s starting ‘keeper over the last few contests under Rohl.
Dawson has kept two clean sheets from his last seven games in net, both coming against Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town in tasty local affairs at Hillsborough. Could he keep a third against Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City?
2
RB – Dominic Iorfa
Deployed by Rohl at both centre-back and right-back this season, Dominic Iorfa stood out in a struggling backline in the latter position up against Birmingham.
Iorfa won eight out of nine ground duels against the Blues as per Sofascore, alongside getting stuck in with seven tackles in an attempt to thwart the Birmingham attackers.
3
CB – Di’Shon Bernard
Di’Shon Bernard could start ahead of Michael Ihiekwe in the line-up for the Foxes home match at Hillsborough, the Manchester United loanee performing well in bursts this season when starting.
Ihiekwe failed to win any of his duels in the contest against the Blues, opening up the opportunity for Bernard to come in instead.
Ihiekwe was even given a 5/10 by Yorkshire Live journalist Ricky Charlesworth in his player ratings, writing that the ex Rotherham United man would be “disappointed” with his display.
The 23-year-old Red Devils loanee was solid in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Huddersfield at the start of October in contrast, winning 12 of his 14 duels versus the Terriers.
4
CB – Bambo Diaby
The former Barnsley centre-back should start again in defence against Leicester on Wednesday night, battling bravely against the Blues.
Diaby was valiant in his efforts to try and keep the ball out of Dawson’s net, blocking three shots at St Andrew’s whilst also clearing the ball away three times.
5
LB – Akin Famewo
Akin Famewo will also stay as Rohl’s left-back for the Leicester match after an encouraging display against Rooney’s men on Saturday.
Wednesday’s number 23 was successful in all three of his dribbles against the Blues to propel his team forward, whilst also remaining staunch defensively with seven ground duels won.
6
CDM – George Byers
Wednesday’s number eight will be the first name on the team sheet by Rohl for Wednesday’s game versus Leicester, Byers scoring the opening goal of the contest at St Andrew’s before Birmingham pulled off a comeback.
Byers wasn’t just important to the Owls through this contribution alone, however, intercepting the ball twice in his 83-minute spell on the pitch as an energetic presence centrally.
7
CDM – Will Vaulks
Vaulks was solid alongside Byers as the more defensively sound option of the duo, amassing 78 touches of the ball throughout the 90 minutes in an attempt to orchestrate moves out from the back.
Accurate with eight of his 15 long balls on the day, Vaulks will hope he can unlock a stern Foxes defence next match with a cutting pass at Hillsborough.
8
RM – Djeidi Gassama
The second potential change Rohl could look to make is dropping Anthony Musaba for Djeidi Gassama, the ex Paris St Germain winger exciting the away fans packed into St Andrew’s with his cameo from off the bench.
Gassama showed his pedigree with four successful dribbles in just 26 minutes, alongside completing two key passes in a spell of the game where Wednesday should have given more to win.
Musaba will be fearing for his starting spot as a result, Wednesday’s number 45 failing to register a single shot on goal before being hauled off for the far more impressive Gassama.
9
CAM – Barry Bannan
Bannan was pushed further forward into an attacking midfield role for the trip to Birmingham, the ever-popular Scotsman trying his best as always to unlock opposition defences with trickery and skill.
The diminutive midfielder had four efforts on goal but failed to find the back of the net, whilst one big chance he created was not put away by a misfiring forward line.
Wearing the captain’s armband for the Owls, the 33-year-old will hope he can be more impactful against Leicester on Wednesday night in an attacking role.
10
LM – Mallik Wilks
Frozen out of the first team picture for some time, Mallik Wilks was handed a rare start by his manager up against the Blues.
The ex Hull City winger was substituted off at the 64-minute mark, but impressed in patches against Rooney’s Birmingham from down the channels.
Attempting two shots on goal – with one of the efforts blocked by a Birmingham shirt – Wilks will pray he’s in from the start again versus Leicester in a bid to open his Championship account for the season against the table-toppers.
11
ST – Bailey Cadamarteri
The final proposed change would be the most daring one of the lot, Rohl handing teenage sensation Bailey Cadamarteri a start against the league leaders in one final roll of the dice to get the Owls firing up top.
Cadamarteri had a promising 15-minute spell on the pitch at St Andrew’s after being substituted in place of a dire Josh Windass, Wednesday’s number 11 skewing three shots wide before leaving the field of play.
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Rohl must unleash Sheffield Wednesday’s “livewire” ahead of Fletcher
Rohl could start this top Owls prospect away at Birmingham City this weekend, with Fletcher missing out consequently.
Whereas, his 18-year-old replacement was straight out of the blocks attempting to create an opening for himself. Winning one aerial duel and having one of his efforts blocked, the Wednesday academy product could pull on the blue and white strip from the get-go against the Foxes.
