Both teams will hope to bounce back from heavy pre-lockdown defeats as Sky Bet Championship football returns to Hillsborough on Saturday.

Mid-table Sheffield Wednesday suffered a 5-0 demolition away at the hands of promotion chasing Brentford whilst Nottingham Forest went down 3-0 to Milwall courtesy of a Matt Smith hat trick at the City Ground.

Wednesday come into game off the back off a poor run of form having won just two games in 2020, with midfielder Adam Reach admitting that the break came at a 'nice time' for the Owls.

Fifth placed Forest will look to extend their five point cushion on the teams chasing the play-off places after some indifferent form before the season hiatus.

Team news

Wednesday manager Garry Monk confirmed that 13 goal top scorer Steven Fletcher is back in contention after recovering from a knock that kept him out of training last week, but fellow striker Sam Winnall will miss out.

On loan midfielder Josh Windass is also ruled out following a training injury, which threatens to finish his season early after only four appearances since joining on deadline day in January.

Forest go into the game with almost no injury concerns, with the extended break giving Tiago Silva, Samba Sow & Tendayi Darikwa all the chance to return to fitness.

Midfielder Ben Watson is the only real concern after taking a knock during a behind closed doors friendly last week, with manager Sabri Lamouchi saying he hopes 'he will be fine.'

Predicted lineups



Ones to watch

Fletcher has been a reliable source of goals for Wednesday this season, whilst midfielders Barry Bannan and  Reach have laid on 13 assists between them. Reach has missed the last eight games with a toe injury and Wednesday will hope he can get back to his best quickly.

Wednesday have kept 11 clean sheets in the Championship this season - but only one in their last seven - and will hope their defence, led by captain Tom Lees, can tighten up after shipping 14 in their last five games.

Many at Forest have impressed this season, but no more so than winger Joe Lolley and the versatile Matty Cash, who attracted interest from AC Milan in January.

Lolley has chipped in with seven goals and six assists whilst Cash has contributed three goals and four assists after being redeployed at right back.

Striker Lewis Grabban sits third in the Championship goalscoring charts with 17, whilst local boy Joe Worrall has impressed in the centre of defence in front of goalkeeper Samba Brice, who has proved popular with the fans.

Previous meetings

The Reds will be looking to set the record straight after a 4-0 humbling by Wednesday at the City Ground in December.

Where to watch

With the game not selected for Sky coverage, fans in the UK will only be able to watch the game on the club's iFollow channels.

What the managers have said


Monk: "There has been a good atmosphere in the camp... No one intends not to perform to their level, we have to do better and I've sensed a determination for that. The proof will be in the games.

"We've had two practise matches at Hillsborough to get used to playing in an emtpy stadium, we are trying to prepare as best we can. They dealt with it well, they were two good games, we're looking forward to getting out there."


Lamouchi: "If we want to be there at the end, we need to start very focused mentally because physically, mentally [and] tactically we will need a little bit more - two or three games minimum.

"For fans of basketball they like to say it's the money time. For us, the money time is now".
 

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