It is often said that there is little room for sentiment as far as football matches are concerned but there is likely to be more than a little reminiscing going on amongst the Hillsborough faithful for the visit of Chesterfield in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy this evening. The visitors are managed by former Owls favourite John Sheridan and for many fans his return will bring memories of happier times at the club flooding back. ‘Shezza’, as he was affectionately known, is best remembered for scoring the only goal in the 1991 League Cup Final and was the fulcrum of the Wednesday midfield in the early 90’s.
Alan Irvine has a fully fit squad at his disposal for the match and Jermaine Johnson could be included at some point as he looks to make his first appearance of the season following injury. Competition rules dictate that Irvine cannot make too many changes to the side that featured against Notts County in the league on Saturday though one or two may be rested with this weekend’s league encounter with Leyton Orient in mind.
Chesterfield had no new injury concerns to report following their amazing 5-5 home draw with Crewe at the weekend but Sheridan may choose to make changes to the back line following a less than assured defensive display.
Ex-Wednesday striker Drew Talbot will be itching to face his former side but may not start the game due to the form of ex-Blades front man Jack Lester and Craig Davies, who is in contention for September’s League Two player of the month award.
Wednesday will be looking to gain some momentum and build on Saturday’s much needed win at Notts County, their first victory in six outings. By contrast Chesterfield have been in fine form, losing just one of their last ten matches, a run which has taken them to second place in League Two.
Chesterfield have a good historical record against the Owls, winning as many as they have lost (11) in the 32 meetings of the two teams. The last competitive clash came back in February 2005 at the Spireites old Saltergate ground in League One. Wednesday ran out 3-1 winners that day thanks to goals from Lee Peacock and a Steve MacLean brace.
Despite the fact that the game will be screened live on Sky Sports a healthy crowd of in excess of 12,000 will be in attendance at Hillsborough, more than the combined total attendance of the five matches played in the northern section of the competition on Tuesday evening. Supporters are reminded that the match kicks off earlier than usual for a midweek fixture, at 7.15pm.