Sheffield Wednesday can have a serious say on the Championship promotion race when they visit Leeds United on Saturday evening.
Steve Bruce has suggested that few changes will be made to his Sheffield Wednesday XI against Leeds United on Saturday.
Injuries forced Bruce to make three alterations against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, a game the Owls won comfortably, 3-0, while Gary Hooper dropped to the bench having made back-to-back starts after 15 months out.
Of Wednesday’s midweek absentees, Sam Hutchinson (illness) is perhaps the most likely to return at Leeds, although Dominic Iorfa (hip) and Barry Bannan (hamstring) were both scheduled to resume training on Friday.
Should Hutchinson indeed pass fit, then Bruce’s dilemma will be which of Joey Pelupessy, George Boyd and Marco Matias to drop in the former Chelsea player’s favour, after all three (the latter pair in particular) impressed against Forest.
And the Sheffield Wednesday manager could opt to restore Hooper (who has scored more goals against Leeds [nine] than he has against any other English club) at the likely expense of Lucas Joao – despite the Portuguese being heavily involved in two of the Owls’ goals last time out.
The on-loan Newcastle left-back Achraf Lazaar is also pushing for a start. However, his Magpies’ colleague, Rolando Aarons, remains a doubt – along with the Tottenham-owned midfielder Josh Onomah.
Is this how Sheffield Wednesday could look at Leeds?
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