Sheffield Wednesday will hope this weekend’s match versus Birmingham City concludes with the Owls picking up only their second win of the season, Danny Rohl’s men in desperate need of more victories to attempt a great escape from the relegation zone.
The beleaguered Owls have only six points to their name from 16 games played, only scoring a pitiful seven goals along the way which is the league’s slimmest goal tally by some distance – QPR just bettering Rohl’s side with 11 goals in 23rd spot.
24th – Sheffield Wednesday goals in Championship – 7 goals |
23rd – QPR – 11 goals |
22nd – Rotherham United – 15 goals |
21st- Huddersfield Town – 14 goals |
20th – Coventry City – 19 goals |
Birmingham’s charitable nature to second-tier opponents recently could be a blessing for the away side at St Andrew’s this weekend however, Wayne Rooney’s Blues losing four of their last five contests in the Championship which has seen them slide down the table at a worrying speed.
Rohl will need to tinker with his line-up for the trip to Birmingham, the German manager potentially hoping a change in personnel in attack could unearth a prolific striker from somewhere.
Ashley Fletcher would be sacrificed if that was the case, with young Academy prospect Bailey Cadamarteri edging towards a starting spot over the misfiring striker.
Ashley Fletcher’s season in numbers
Loaned in from Watford this summer to bolster the striker positions at Hillsborough, Fletcher’s time in South Yorkshire has been unfortunately disastrous so far for the 6 foot 1 attacker.
Making 12 appearances in total for the Owls this season – only starting from the get-go three times – Wednesday’s number 28 has zero goals to show for his efforts.
Related
5 players fighting for their Sheffield Wednesday career under Rohl
Danny Rohl will want these underperforming players to find form again to help Wednesday somehow pull off a miraculous relegation escape.
The 28-year-old isn’t imposing himself onto contests either, only averaging 0.3 shots per game when fielded by Rohl, as per Sofascore.
It will be his 45-minute display against Millwall last time out which will have the Wednesday loanee sweating about his first team spot for Birmingham this weekend, hauled off at the interval by his new manager after another dismal display.
Fletcher didn’t register a single shot on goal to test the Lions goalkeeper on the day, the Owls succumbing to a demoralising 4-0 defeat with no firepower present.
Fletcher has never been a lethal striker – only scoring 59 goals across 259 professional appearances – but his performances so far in an Owls strip have fallen way below the standards Wednesday supporters must have expected of their short-term loanee.
One final roll of the dice in the attacking positions could be starting Cadamarteri away at St Andrew’s on Saturday, the Wednesday U18s starlet nearing closer to a first-team chance to hopefully fix the South Yorkshire side’s continued attacking issues.
Bailey Cadamarteri as Fletcher’s replacement
Described as a “livewire” by football journalist Alan Biggs after his cameo against Millwall, Cadamarteri did give it his all in the second half when coming on for Fletcher even with the game being so one-sided and failing to feel like a competitive fixture.
The 18-year-old had one shot on target in his far more impactful 45-minute spell at Hillsborough, whilst also rolling up his sleeves for his team by winning a singular ground duel in a contest that passed a lot of senior Owls squad members by.
Rohl starting Cadamarteri for his side’s next match away to Rooney’s Blues could be an effective secret weapon to terrorise the hosts, starting a surprise asset who will be eager to score in the senior side after coming through the youth ranks.
If Wednesday’s number 42 was to start at St Andrew’s and somehow score a winner, the teenager would instantly enter into Owls folklore as an unlikely hero figure who stepped up when his team desperately needed one.
