Out of form Sheffield Wednesday will look to bring some long overdue festive cheer to their fans on Boxing Day as they play host to league leaders Newcastle United at Hillsborough in front of the Sky TV cameras.
Caretaker boss Sean McAuley surprised onlookers last weekend when he kept the same side that had previously let Brian Laws down in the past couple of months. McAuley didn’t get the response he wanted as Wednesday slumped to a fifth successive home defeat against Swansea and so changes to the line up are expected for the lunch time kick-off against the Championship’s runaway leaders.
Ex-Sunderland man Michael Gray is expected to make a return to the team though he could revert to his old position at left-back rather than the wide midfield role he has become accustomed to at Hillsborough if the boss chooses to take struggling youngster Tommy Spurr out of the firing line.
Tommy Miller is the Owls only injury absentee and so the likes of Richard Hinds, Frank Simek, Francis Jeffers, Etienne Esjajas, Warren Feeney and Tom Soares could all be in contention for a place in the starting line up.
Newcastle come to Hillsborough with concerns over the fitness of captain Alan Smith. The former Leeds and Man Utd player has been struggling with an ankle injury but has returned to training and is expected to be available for selection.
Nicky Butt is on standby to take Smith’s place in the starting eleven should the midfielder fail to prove his fitness but Joey Barton remains sidelined through injury.
Up front Andy Carroll will return to the squad having served a suspension in last weekends win against Middlesbrough but he may have to settle for a place on the bench as both Shola Ameobi and Marlon Harewood were on target in that North-East clash.
Wednesday find themselves rooted in the bottom 3 having failed to pick up so much as a point in their last 5 matches. They have not scored in over six games and are without a win in 10. They will need to avoid defeat to prevent setting an unwanted club record of 6 successive home defeats.
By contrast Newcastle have opened up a 10 point lead at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship as a result of a run of no defeats in nine including 8 victories.
The Owls were unlucky to lose at St James Park early on in the season when a solitary first half strike from Ameobi was all that separated the two teams.
Wednesday were defeated 2-0 the last time the two teams met at Hillsborough back in 2000 as they headed for relegation from the Premier League.