Town Out to Make it Five in a Row at Sheffield Wednesday Tuesday, 30th Sep 2014 06:00 Town take on Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough this evening looking to win five league games on the trot for the first time since October 2003. Coincidentally, that run started with a 2-1 home victory over Rotherham - who were defeated 2-0 at Portman Road on Saturday - followed by wins at Bradford (1-0), at home to Burnley (6-1) and Stoke (1-0) and finally at Crystal Palace (4-3). Town managed a run of five wins in all competitions during the August and September of the following season when Cardiff were beaten 3-1 at Portman Road before Brentford were beaten 2-0 in a League Cup tie, also on Suffolk soil. Once again a victory over Rotherham, 2-0 at Millmoor, was part of that run with home wins against Millwall and Wolves (2-1 and 2-0 respectively) completing the streak. Despite his fifth-placed side having won their last four games, manager Mick McCarthy says he’s not concerned about his players becoming overconfident: “It doesn’t bother me at all that, not within here because they all know what I’m like. “It’s the next game that matters to me, I’m not bothered what we’ve done. I said to them on Saturday that it’s performances which gain you momentum. “Everybody will say ‘It’s results that get you momentum’. But how do you get results? You get results by playing well and we’ve played well in all those games. So, it’s looking after performances, and if you do that, results will come.” He expects a tough game against the Owls, who dropped to ninth following their 2-1 defeat at Cardiff on Saturday. Prior to that loss and last week’s 7-0 thrashing by Manchester City in the Capital One Cup, Wednesday had made a generally positive start to the season. “We’ve just had good results but we’re going to Sheffield Wednesday on a Tuesday night under lights,” the Town boss said. “They’ve had a good start. I thought they were excellent here at the end of last season and we were very lucky to win that, they were the better team. “Stuart Gray’s got them playing some really good football. He was with Dave Jones for quite a while and took over from Dave. "He was the caretaker-manager, he settled them down really well and they’ve started well this season. I know Stuart, I played with him at Barnsley 100 years ago," he joked. “It’s never an easy place to go and play and they’ve started well. Then we’ve got Nottingham Forest before the break. We’ve done all right, let’s see what we take out of these two games.” McCarthy says Gray has a decent squad: “They’ve still got Atdhe Nuhiu. He’s a handful and Steve May looks particularly sharp. I know there was a bit of interest in him from other places. He looks like a good signing. “They play a solid 4-4-2. Jacques Maghoma they got from Burton Albion, who did well there but stalled last year, but is looking more of a threat. Chris Maguire on the right, Jose Semedo and Giles Coke. “They’re a solid 4-4-2, nothing strange or unusual, they haven’t got anybody playing in behind or a sitter or somebody drifting around, but they’re a really capable team off their shape.” He believes Wednesday are one of a number of sleeping giants in the Championship: “If they were in the top two the place would be rocking, you’d be looking at 30,000 there. It’s a huge club. “There are a few of them about. Our league is full of clubs who have been in the Premier League not that long ago. What’s the Premier League, 21 years old? “I think if you look at the league there are 18, 19 or 20 teams who have been in the Premier League, who think they are huge clubs.” McCarthy once again has plenty of decisions to make regarding his personnel and formation, however, his back four and goalkeeper are likely to remain unchanged. Dean Gerken will be in goal with Jonny Parr at right-back, Tyrone Mings on the left and with Christophe Berra and skipper Luke Chambers in the centre of the defence. Berra and Mings are both only one booking away from a suspension. In midfield, McCarthy could look to move away from the three he has used in recent games to match the Owls’ system. That could see Cole Skuse - if he’s over his toe injury - or Kevin Bru or Luke Hyam behind new loan signing Jonny Williams in the centre with Paul Anderson on the right and Jay Tabb on the left. Alternatively, if McCarthy feels Williams isn't ready to start, Hyam could start ahead of Skuse or Bru. Daryl Murphy would partner David McGoldrick up front with Conor Sammon dropping to the bench. Wednesday will again be without defender Tom Lees, due to a hamstring tear, but fellow centre-half Kamil Zayatte is back after a one-match ban Midfielder Kieran Lee returns to the squad after a groin problem, but another defender Sam Hutchinson is not yet ready to get back to action after a back injury. Owls boss Gray told his club's official site that he's pleased to have another game so soon after the defeat at Cardiff: “There’s no reason why we can’t get the points and that is the approach we have for every game. “We are all looking forward to because we want that quick opportunity to get back on the park. “I should be talking here with us having taken something from Saturday because we certainly deserved it. “But we know what we have to do and where we have to improve. We have been working on those things today and I want to see them in place on Tuesday.” Wednesday just have had the edge on the Blues historically, winning 17 times (16 in the league), losing on 16 (15) occasions with 10 (nine) matches ending in draws. However, Town are unbeaten in their last five at Hillsborough. The teams last met at Portman Road on the final weekend of last season, the Blues running out 2-1 victors with Tommy Smith and Paul Green on target. Smith stabbed home from close range in the 37th minute, Kieran Lee equalised for the visitors 10 minutes after the break but Green nodded in Stephen Hunt’s freekick in the 67th minute. At Hillsborough in October, two goals in two first half minutes from Paul Anderson and Michail Antonio saw the Blues and Owls draw 1-1. Each side also hit the woodwork, Cole Skuse for Town in the first half and sub Jermaine Johnson for Wednesday late on. Both Town’s front two have had loan spells with the Owls. David McGoldrick spent a month there during the early part of 2011/12, scoring once in three starts and one sub appearance, while Daryl Murphy was at Hillsborough for a month in 2005 while a Sunderland player, making four appearances but failing to find the net. Canadian-born striker Caolan Lavery, a Northern Ireland U21 international, joined the Owls in the summer of 2012 having turned down a professional contract with the Blues during the previous season after coming through the Town academy. He is currently sidelined following knee surgery. Tonight’s referee is Darren Bond from Lancashire, who has shown 18 yellow cards and one red in 10 game so far this season. Bond’s most recent Town match was the 2-2 draw at Barnsley last season in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout. Squad from: Gerken, Bialkowski, Parr, Hewitt, Mings, Berra, Chambers, Smith, Skuse, Bishop, Hyam, Anderson, Tabb, Henshall, Ambrose, Bru, Hunt, Williams, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon, Bajner.
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