Who is Sheffield Wednesday’s best-performing striker this season?

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In a season that has seen the Owls struggle to find the net on a regular basis the strikers have had little glory, but what do the stats show us?

Sheffield Wednesday’s 36 goals from 39 matches is the lowest total outside the bottom three clubs in the Sky Bet Championship and just 12 goals scored at Hillsborough has provided meagre pickings for their loyal fans, who have also sat through nine blanks on their home turf.

Stevie May was the big signing in the close season from St Johnstone, but the 22-year-old has so far struggled to transfer his excellent scoring stats to the English league.

Due to the faltering form of their strikers, Stuart Gray’s men have turned to attacking midfielders such as Chris Maguire to bolster their forward ranks, and have also had to recall Irish striker Caolan Lavery from a successful loan spell at Chesterfield, due to recent injuries to Manchester United loanee Will Keane and Romanian signing Sergiu Bus.

The figures highlight the goals of Austrian forward Atdhe Nuhiu, but of the forwards with the most minutes on the pitch Nuhiu has proved the most wasteful, with a shot on target percentage of only 26% compared to 29% for May and 30% for Maguire.

6 foot 4 inch Nuhiu has also missed eight ‘big chances’, although May can perhaps be considered the most wasteful as he has missed 13 presentable opportunities.

May can also be considered the most unlucky, as he has hit the woodwork five times, which certainly highlights that he is the striker in the thick of the action the most.

Will Keane has shown some promise in his short spell on loan and a decent shots on target percentage of 27, compares well with his striking colleagues.

Keane also heads the goals-per-minute figures with his three goals coming at a strike rate of one every 283 minutes. This compares favourably to Nuhiu (395 minutes), May (332 minutes) and Maguire (422 minutes). However, you have to take into account that Maguire has not always played in a forward role.

Overall, you could perhaps look at Nuhiu as being the best performer generally, particularly as his three goal assists have proved vital in a team that has been so shot-shy in the 2014-15 campaign.

Certainly, under new ownership, Owls fans will be looking for a significant striker purchase over the summer to add a cutting edge to what has proved a very solid and stable team in other departments.