Crucial week ahead for Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday face QPR today and are desperately looking to pick up three points having seen themselves cut adrift in the third relegation spot in the Championship.

Although Wednesday have a game and in some cases two games in hand on the clubs around them they cannot afford to let the 4-point gap that has emerged widen any further as it is points on the board that are crucial at this stage.

Since a lacklustre performance in the defeat at Bristol City the Owls have put in creditable performances in their last four outings but these games have yielded just five points and only one goal-more is needed if they are to avoid the drop to League One.

The Owls go to Colchester next Tuesday in what is a vital clash for both teams and Wednesday will have to improve on last seasons display at Layer road which saw them suffer a 4-0 hammering.

Next Saturday sees Wednesday travel to fellow strugglers Coventry City. Defeat at the Ricoh arena would further increase the gap at the bottom of the table and leave the Owls with a mountain to climb.

Anything less than two wins from these three fixtures would put severe pressure on Wednesday for the remainder of the campaign.

Three defeats would leave the safety looking like an almost impossible task whilst three wins could see a number of teams get sucked in to the relegation battle.

If Wednesday are to have any chance of staying up then they need to start finding the net. A record of 34 goals in 34 games in simply not good enough. Since the injury to Akpo Sodje Wednesday have become over-reliant on Marcus Tudgay to find the net.

Defenders have chipped in with the odd goal but the alarming fact is that there is nothing coming in this department from the midfield. Wednesday's midfield has not registered a single goal since the 5-0 victory over Southampton at Hillsborough in November, an astonishing statistic that stretches to 20 matches in league and cup.