The on-loan West Bromwich Albion winger may have to settle for a place on the bench when Sheffield Wednesday host Norwich City on Saturday.
Leeds United’s Chris Wood celebrates his goal against Sheffield Wednesday
Back-to-back defeats have had the Sheffield Wednesday doom-mongers out in force once more.
Things could be worse, with the Owls still holding a five-point cushion over seventh-placed Fulham, and consecutive – and winnable – home games should be approached with positivity as Carlos Carvalhal’s side look to go one better than last season’s play-off final defeat.
The Portuguese has called on the Wednesday faithful to adopt said mentality, but will his tactics follow suit?
Here’s how we at HITC expect the Owls to lineup against the eighth-placed Canaries:
In goal… Keiren Westwood
At the back… Jack Hunt, Vincent Sasso, Glenn Loovens, Adam Reach
Morgan Fox’s Leeds display left much to be desired in this writer’s opinion, so Reach could replace him at left-back, with Daniel Pudil also in line for a recall. Tom Lees looks set to miss his seventh game in a row, so the rest of the back four should remain as it was at Elland Road.
Across the middle… Ross Wallace, Sam Hutchinson, Almen Abdi, Fernando Forestieri
Callum McManaman is bursting for a start and while many fans – perhaps Carvalhal, too – are keen to see him do so, the West Brom loanee is always likely to miss out in favour of the more conservative Wallace in games such as this. There would certainly be logic to that decision, with McManaman offering a greater impact off the bench if things are tight. Forestieri could return to the left flank to accommodate another centre-forward, while Hutchinson and Abdi should keep their places ahead of Barry Bannan and David Jones.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Callum McManaman (right) in action against Brighton
Up front... Sam Winnall, Jordan Rhodes
Winnall was unlucky to lose his place in recent weeks and should return alongside Rhodes, who was isolated against Leeds. Steven Fletcher may have to settle for a place on the bench and could be joined by Gary Hooper.
McManaman has started just once since arriving from West Bromwich Albion in January – would you start him against Norwich?
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