McKenna: Improving Wednesday Certainly Not One of the Lower Teams in the Division Friday, 15th Mar 2024 17:29 Third-placed Town face improving Sheffield Wednesday at a sell-out Portman Road on Saturday aiming to bounce back from last week’s last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City. The Owls are currently second bottom of the Championship, but only a point from safety. Having made a disastrous start to the campaign following their promotion from League One via the play-offs, they have got much better since Danny Röhl took over as manager from Xisco Muñoz in October and have won five of their last seven matches, including a run of four in a row prior to last weekend’s 2-0 home loss to second-placed Leeds United. Overall on their travels, they have won four, drawn one and lost 13. But two of those victories were in their two most recent away games, a 2-0 success at Millwall having been followed-up by a 1-0 win in a local derby at Rotherham. Wednesday have scored the joint-fewest goals in the division, 30, alongside the Millers, and only six teams have conceded more. On the road, they have again scored fewer than anyone else in the division, just 10 goals in 18 games, while conceding 32, more than all but five other sides. “I think they've certainly improved,” manager Kieran McKenna said. “There's no doubt about that, so we're expecting to face a really strong team, the strongest Sheffield Wednesday team that we've faced. “They're in good form, I think they’ve always had good players, they've added more good players in the summer, added more good players in January and the manager’s got them really, really well set up. “So, there's no surprise when you watch them that they're picking up good results and we know it's going to be a tough game, but I'm sure they know it's going to be a tough game for them as well.” He added: “They're in good form and in the last month they've picked up a good amount of points, but I think they've been in good form for quite a period of time and if you look at it since October, they're certainly not one of the lower teams in the division. “So we'll go into the game with eyes open, respecting the form and the quality that they have and we've prepared for that, and we all need to go to the stadium tomorrow knowing that we're in for a battle. It's going to be a really hard-fought game, but I think it'll be a great game. “They're playing with an aggressive and attacking mindset as well. We have been for a pretty long period of time, so I think it's going to be two teams trying to take the initiative trying to be brave and dominant and it should make for a great game. “So it's one to enjoy one to embrace and we're going to have to play well, work extremely hard and be very smart as well to come out on top performance-wise, and hopefully that means we come on top of the points.”
McKenna expects the Owls to continue with their positive approach at Portman Road, despite the relative positions of the two clubs. “I don't expect them to come sit back and defend,” he reflected. “I expect them to come and try and be aggressive because they've done that in pretty much every game they've had with the new manager, and we'll do that in every game. “I think it's going to be two teams trying to take the initiative in the game. Of course, we want to defend well and we want to get a clean sheet and I'm sure they want to defend well and I'm sure they want to get a clean sheet, but the priority is delivering a performance where we get more chances than them and we score more goals in them. “So whichever way that has to be done, whichever way the game pans out, that's how we want it to go.” Asked whether he is looking forward to locking horns with Wednesday manager Röhl for the first time, he said: “I just think it's a good challenge of a game. I think we know some of the Sheffield Wednesday players. “We felt last year, in the last couple of seasons, they've always had really good individual quality. They've added individual quality, they've added more pace in one-v-ones to the team and now the manager's got them really well organised from a tactical point of view on and off the ball and playing an aggressive brand of football. “I am looking forward to the challenge of facing this Sheffield Wednesday team that are in good form, but also in our stadium where we're in great form and picked up good results, and we're going to fight really hard to try and get another one.” The game is the final match before the final international break of the season and McKenna wants his side to end this block of fixtures on a high note with only eight games remaining after they reassemble. “That would be great,” he said. “It's a relentless season, it's busy, the spell from the November break to this international break is the longest spell where you've got games every weekend or very, very often twice a week. “We're in another good phase and in a good season, but no doubt it would be great to finish off this period with a good performance, first and foremost a game to enthuse and excite our supporters and of course, it would be great to get the win. “So we know it's not going to be easy, but it would be a great way to go into the international break and that's what we're going to try and get.”
McKenna is likely to stick essentially to the team which came so close to winning at Cardiff, although revealed at his press conference that two unnamed players would be the subject of late judgement calls having been nursed through training this week. All being well on that front, Vaclav Hladky will be in goal with Harry Clarke at right-back and Leif Davis on the left with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess the centre-halves. Skipper Sam Morsy is likely to be partnered by former Owl Massimo Luongo in central midfield behind, from the right, Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead, with Kieffer Moore the out-and-out striker. Town are third following last week’s defeat at Cardiff, a point behind Leeds, who are in action on Sunday at home to resurgent Millwall. Leaders Leicester, who are four points in front of the Blues, are in FA Cup action at Chelsea on Sunday, while Southampton, five points behind Town with a game in hand in fourth, don't play this weekend as they were set to travel to take on the Foxes today before that game was switched to Tuesday 23rd April. Wednesday boss Röhl believes his side needs to be braver against the Blues than they were in last week’s loss to Leeds. “I think it’s a good team,” he said reflecting on Town. “They’ve come up from League One, they’ve had a good run, they’ve a good manager, they work very well. “It’s a good improvement, a good development from this club, they are in a good position now. “Looking back at Leeds and what we can take from the Leeds game. In some cases we were not brave enough. “I know when you play against a strong side, against a team at the top of the table, it is about finding a balance between doing something special, but I spoke to my team after the Leeds game and it's not about doing something special, it's about being brave and it means then being on the front foot in both directions. “I think it’s important we take this to Ipswich. We have to be brave. I think we broke well, we’ve shown in a lot of games what we do well. “We have to be brave, we work well, we have shown what we can do but it is always about doing everything 100 per cent, not just staying in between, and it has been a big topic this week. “I want to see a team at the weekend that really believe they can take something from there – brave in all situations.” Regarding the Blues, he added: “They are on a great run, they're doing well, they have had a lot of games where they are decided very late and this is a key point. We are preparing for this as well. “I think I have a starting XI in my mind, I think they could be the right players. We had a big first half against Leeds, we played not bad and we were competitive. “We were unlucky with the goal and these are the key moments. We must be ruthless in both boxes.” Wednesday will be without long-term absentee Callum Paterson with the forward still sidelined having undergone knee surgery after Christmas. Forward Josh Windass and centre-half Kristian Pedersen are closing in on returns but won’t be back until after the international break. Historically, matters are very evenly balanced, Town having won 21 games (20 in the league), Wednesday 21 (20) and with 16 (15) matches having ended in draws. In September at Hillsborough, Chaplin’s third goal of the season saw Town to a 1-0 victory over Wednesday. The Blues, who remained third with a 100 per cent record on the road, had had a number of chances to go in front before Chaplin slammed home Davis’s low cross just before half-time and had opportunities to increase their lead in the second half. The teams last met at Portman Road in League One in February last year when free-kicks from Broadhead and Davis either side of half-time saw Town come from 2-0 behind to to claim a 2-2 draw. Chaplin missed a 19th-minute penalty for the Blues before Michael Smith and George Byers netted on 27 and 34 to give the Owls, who went into the match top of League One, a commanding lead. But Broadhead’s brilliant free-kick in the 43rd minute and Davis’s deflected strike six minutes after the restart claimed a point for the Blues, who subsequently looked the more likely to grab a winner. After the game, Wednesday’s Marvin Johnson, a Town target this January, was banned for three games for elbowing Burns in the incident which led to the Town penalty, the officials having been unable to identify the culprit at the time. Currently injured Blues striker George Hirst started his career with the Owls where his father David had been a legend in the eighties and nineties. Having come through the academy, Hirst junior made two subs appearances before moving on to Belgian side OH Leuven in the summer of 2018. Midfielder Luongo was with the Owls from August 2019 until the summer of 2022, making 57 starts and 16 sub appearances, scoring four goals. Owls defender Dominic Iorfa spent 2017/18 on loan with the Blues from Wolves making 22 starts and three sub appearances, scoring once. Midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson, who is on loan at Charlton, was with Town on loan during the second half of 2021/22, making 14 starts and three sub appearances, scoring twice. Town legend Neil Thompson is the Wednesday U21s manager. Saturday’s referee is Leigh Doughty from Lancashire, who has shown 110 yellow cards and three red in 24 games so far this season. Doughty’s last Town match was the 2-2 draw at Birmingham City in November, yellow-carding Burgess and two home players. He also took charge of the pre-season friendly against Luton at Colchester, which ended 1-1, in which he awarded the Hatters a penalty, which was converted by Carlton Morris, after George Edmundson slid in and felled Chiedozie Ogbene, although the Blues’ defender had clearly been pulled back in the build-up. His only other competitive Town game was the 2-2 draw at Cambridge in October 2021 in which he booked Chaplin and no one else. Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Davis, Humphreys, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burgess, Morsy (c), Luongo, Luongo, Travis, Taylor, Ball, Burns, Chaplin, Harness, Jackson, Aluko, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Broadhead, Moore, Al-Hamadi.
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