Sheffield Wednesday will be relieved to see the end of a long season, as they entertain Middlesbrough at Hillsborough on Wednesday evening. The Yorkshire outfit are in 16th position, safe from relegation. Despite sitting six places off the drop zone, the Owls are only six points off the bottom three, whilst a final day victory could see them finish as high as 13th, which would be upgraded to 12th following Wigan Athletic’s points deduction.
Wednesday lost a thrilling match away to Fulham last time out, they were beat 5-3.
Middlesbrough are all but safe, following Wigan's impending 12 point penalty. A final day win would secure survival, with a draw all but securing their Championship status.
If Birmingham, Charlton and Luton were all to win, and Boro to lose, they would face a nervous wait for the result of Wigan's appeal. Despite their patchy home form, Boro have won their last two matches on the road, and will be looking to register one final win on Wednesday night.
Key Battle:
After top scorer Steven Fletcher left the club on 30th June, the Owls have been reliant on Atdhe Nuhiu. The Kosovan target man has mostly been used as an impact substitute, but has still netted three goals in his past six games.
Ashley Fletcher has been involved in four of Boro's last seven away goals, scoring three and assisting the other.
Neil Warnock will also be looking to continue his good head to head record with Garry Monk. Warnock is unbeaten in his five meetings with his contemporary, having won three and drawn the other two.
Previous Meeting:
The previous meeting between the sides produced five goals, as Wednesday ran riot in an incredible first half at the Riverside. In a manic first 20 minutes, an own goal from Boro's Adam Clayton was followed by a goal from Owls defender Dominic Iorfa. Middlesbrough briefly halved the deficit as Paddy McNair found the net, but their reprieve was short lived. Quick fire goals from Adam Reach and Steven Fletcher settled the result before the interval, and the Owls returned to Yorkshire with all three points.
Team News:
Sheffield Wednesday have defender Osaze Urhoghide still sidelined with a long-term problem, and Kieran Lee faces a late fitness test.
Middlesbrough will have a fully fit squad to choose from, with all their players available for selection. Jonny Howson will be suspended, after being sent off in Boro's 3-1 home loss to Cardiff.
Predicted Lineups:
Sheffield Wednesday (3-5-2): Wildsmith, Iorfa, Lees, Borner, Harris, Luongo, Bannan, Hunt, Odubajo, Windass, Da Cruz.
Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Pears, Dijksteel, Friend, Fry, Dijksteel, Johnson, Saville, Tavernier, Spence, Fletcher, Roberts.
Managers Comments:
Neil Warnock was furious with his side after their loss last time out:
"Goals are so important, to work as we did in training and then concede a goal from a corner, it's not good enough, you can't be doing that in the Championship. We gave silly goals away.
"Other teams don't have to work hard enough to score against us and that has to change.
"We will go to Sheffield Wednesday now and try and get a good result."
Wednesday boss Garry Monk was in a reflective mood following his side's 5-3 loss to Fulham:
"To score three goals against a very good side but come off losing, through errors we have made, it is very frustrating.
"We make a few steps forward, then take a few back and that has proved very costly for us.
"They were poor goals and when we got them on the ropes, we compounded ourselves with more errors."