Sheffield Wednesday vs Charlton Athletic | Saturday 13th August 2022 @ 3pm | Match Preview

Well on the basis of results so far, you could say that there has been some kind of progress compared with 12-months ago... Perhaps the hardest challenge of them all is out of the way for Ben Garner, he has that first win, and now has something to build upon... We travel to Sheffield Wednesday with four points already in the bag, it took until the next of August, and five games to achieve that last term. Lose our next three we're in the same position, not resting in this Sport!!

The Opposition
Name: Sheffield Wednesday () | Manager: Darren Moore
Ground: Hillsborough
Previous League Result: Milton Keynes 0-1 Sheff Wed

The Fans: Opinion after the game on Saturday, was that the home side had a lot of the ball (as expected), and that a side with better finishing could have hurt them.

The Opposition Manager: Was perhaps more focused on a penalty that shouldn't have been last Saturday, whilst berating Goalkeeper: Stockdale who was a nemesis in making a number of key saves.

The Situation: Well I got it wrong last season with Wednesday, I thought they'd be hurting after relegation and financial issues, and so would have to settle for a season of recovery - Instead they deservedly finished in the Play-Offs, under a very good Manager at this level, and were unlucky to reach the Final - This season my opinion is the reverse, we're looking at one of the top two sides this coming Saturday, hopefully I'm wrong again... However our opponents are now allowed to spend on Transfer fees again, something that would have hampered them last term.

Focus On... Darren Moore: Yay opinion time again... Honestly... Darren Moore should not be a Manager at this level; Wednesday made a great decision appointing him prior to their relegation from the Championship. As he showed when Doncaster visited in 2020, he's a Manager who can setup sides that will hurt you, and I still believe it was a mistake for West Brom to sack him in 2019, even if they did get promoted a year later.

Team News

Charlton's win on Tuesday night will have given Manager: Ben Garner a headache or two no doubt - Both Sam Lavelle, and Diallang Jaiyesimi impressed, and I'd expect the latter to return to the team, what with us being away from home, given he's a better defender than Charlie Kirk... Of course we could yet see Jesurun Rak-Sakyi involved if he signs prior to 12noon tomorrow (?), although I expect his first appearance will be from the bench at least.

You'd expect Conor McGrandles to miss out, as per the protocols surrounding concussion injuries

Both Akin Famewo (V900) and Michael Smith (V739) look set to miss the game against their old Employers, Famewo earnt his first start at Stadium:MK last weekend, but was subbed on 29mins, and left the game on crutches.

Prediction
Is there going to be a tougher venue than Hillsborough this season? - Well apart from the Valley

Its never great taking this approach, but if we can avoid defeat on Saturday then we may well be on to something - If we want to be fighting for the Play-Offs this season, then we need to continue to take whatever points we can from these big games... We'll need to impose ourselves better on games, compared with last Saturday - We wont always get lucky in that regard!!

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