Sheffield Wednesday's next two games going into the Christmas period are at home and wins at Hillsborough are imperative if Carlos Carvalhal's side are to stay in touch with the play-off picture moving into the New Year.
The Owls have taken just 1 point from their last two games – both on the road – at Cardiff and MK Dons. On both occasions a slow start has cost Wednesday. They did well in the end to rescue a point in Wales having been 2-0 down at half-time last Saturday but there was no repeat comeback in Milton Keynes on Tuesday when going 2-0 down inside an hour resulted in a 2-1 defeat to the struggling Dons.
Wednesday host an inconsistent Wolves side on Sunday. It remains to be seen whether the Owls will benefit from having a longer in between games in this case as Wolves face Leeds United tonight.
Birmingham City travel to Hillsborough on Boxing Day and while the Blues have suffered a recent dip in form after a fine start to the season they still boast an impressive away record.
It is vital that the Owls shrug off their slow starts to games as the first goal can so often be key to gaining positive results in the ever-competitive Championship division. If the Owls can keep in touch with the top 6 going into the New Year it will be interesting to see whether chairman Dejphon Chansiri will continue to invest in the team in the January transfer market with the possibility of reaching his aim of promotion to the Premier League in 2 seasons within sight a year ahead of schedule.