Smith made over 350 appearances for Wednesday and is currently doing a good job with the Under-18's and has had managerial experience with both Notts County and Lincoln City as assistant.
Chris Marsden will assist Smith and they had their first training session as a temporary coaching team yesterday.
The clash at Highfield Road will be difficult enough anyway despite all the troubles off the pitch.
Supporters' views flooded the airwaves last night on both Radio Sheffield and Real Radio with former Owls stars John Pearson, Imre Varadi, Mel Sterland, Lawrie Madden and David Hirst having their views.
Many new names were mentioned but the crew on Radio Sheffield overwhelmingly wanted Howard Wilkinson to be brought back to Hillsborough with a younger man like Chris Waddle coming in to help.
One thing is for certain though, this will be the toughest decision of Dave Allen's reign as Wednesday chairman and if he gets this one wrong, it could have serious repercussions for the club.