On the eve of the final matchday of Season 6, Ted Powell and his Sheffield Wednesday squad have the luxury of knowing that their fate is already sealed. The Owls can afford to lose at home to Leeds tomorrow night, but have the pleasure of knowing that, no matter the score, playoffs are secured.
'That was the aim at the beginning of the season' said Powell 'the first 4 matches we hit the ground running, but then went on a very poor run of 7 winless games. We were a good 10 points adrift of the playoffs at nearly the quarter stage of the season, and we were playing so poorly.'
Things began to change for the side on April 11th, when a 2-0 victory away to a poor Watford side was the catalyst for a run of 6 wins in 7, to propel the teamback into playoff contention. Since then,60 points in 34 games has been an impressive turnaround, with only a few minor blips along the way.
There is the possibility that, should Leeds beat Wednesday tomorrow, and Southampton win at home to Nottingham Forest, that Powell's men would slip down to 6th. However, with a currently fully fit and available squad, with no injuries, no suspensions, Powell intends for his key players to remain that way. Which is why the likes of Vidal, Guardado, Gillet and Traore will all be rested. The average rating of the starting XI tomorrow however, is still 87, and Powell wants his side to head into the playoffs in 5th place, and with another 3 points under their belts.
With automatic promotion still undecided, there are 3 different sides who Wednesday could face in the playoffs- Brighton, Crystal Palace and a Blackpool side on very poor form. What could be a boost no matter who Wednesday end up facing, however, is that, out of the 6 matches against these 3 sides so far this season, the Owls have won 4 and drawn 2, remaining undefeated against 3 of the best teams in the whole division.
BRIGHTON- HOME- WON 3-2
AWAY- DREW 1-1
CRYSTAL PALACE- AWAY- DREW 3-3
HOME- WON 3-1
BLACKPOOL- HOME- WON 2-1
AWAY- WON 3-1
When asked as to who he would prefer facing, Powell instantly replied 'With all due respect to them I've got to say Blackpool. We've beaten them twice this season already, including a comfortable away victory very recently. They have, in my opinion, a weaker squad than Palace and Brighton, and their form is currently not great. I think I would fear Palace slightly more than Brighton actually, despite their current positions. The main reason for this is because I feel, on our day, our squad is no worse than Brighton, while they also have the likes of Curtis Davies and Max Kruse currently out injured.'
No matter what, it promises to be an exciting next couple of weeks for Wednesday fans, and one which they'll be praying ends up in Premier League football
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