Sheffield Wednesday have one last chance to pick up some points in September when they face Oldham Athletic at Hillsborough this Tuesday evening. The Owls extended their pointless run this month to four games at the weekend when Southampton ran out 1-0 winners at S6 with Wednesday slipping into the bottom half of the table.
In terms of fitness Wednesday remain without winger Jermaine Johnson though the Jamaican could be set to return to action next month. Captain Darren Purse was substituted at half-time on Saturday after taking a blow to the face but should be able to play. Daniel Jones received mixed reviews for his performance at left-back and Irvine will have to decide whether he keeps his place ahead of Tommy Spurr. None of the Owls strikers have scored in the last four matches and so Paul Heffernan must surely come into contention for a rare start. Tommy Miller could be given a chance in the side whilst Giles Coke may return to a more central role having started in a wide midfield position against Southampton.
Oldham will be without striker Warren Feeney. The Northern Ireland international, who had a very brief spell on loan at Hillsborough last season, has an ankle injury. Having scored at the weekend Lewis Allessandra is likely to continue to lead the line for the Latics and player manager Paul Dickov has the option of including himself in the squad should he so wish. The former Arsenal striker has made just one appearance from the bench o far this season.
While Wednesday’s recent form has been consistently bad, losing four in a row including two at Hillsborough, Oldham’s form has been patchy. They have lost three of their last five matches including a 2-1 defeat at Brighton at the weekend and they have only collected one point from three away games since their opening day victory at Tranmere.
The two sides have not met since Wednesday’s promotion season in 2004/05 when both matches resulted in 1-1 draws. The Owls have an excellent home record against Oldham winning fifteen of the twenty-four meetings between the two sides in Sheffield and losing just two with the last home defeat to them occurring way back in 1924.