Sheffield Wednesday welcome Birmingham City to Hillsborough tonight.
Sheffield Wednesday are back at home tonight where they host 19th place Birmingham City in big six-pointer near the foot of the table.
The Owls are now eight points adrift after a run of six games without a win in all competitions, whereas Birmingham City are just four points ahead of Huddersfield Town in 21st.
Under the lights and in front of the Sky Sports cameras, it should be an exciting match up tonight.
But an unwanted talking point ahead of the game is the state of the Hillsborough pitch.
Hillsborough pitch in poor condition
In the last home game vs Watford last month, the Sheffield Wednesday pitch looked to be in a bad way.
It’s since been a talking point with journalist Alex Miller suggesting that the pitch is hindering Danny Rohl‘s playing style, whilst also helping to fatigue the players.
But ahead of tonight’s game, journalist Alan Biggs has revealed that the Owls have taken steps to assure that tonight’s game vs Birmingham City goes ahead, following a spell of bad weather in the region.
He posted on X:
Poor pitch is just the tip of the iceberg for Sheffield Wednesday
The mood among Sheffield Wednesday fans certainly isn’t good now, and that comes just a few weeks after everyone was pulling in the same direction.
Rohl and co worked wonders through December to give the club a fighting chance in the relegation run-in. But he’s been badly let down by the club in the January transfer window and now the Owls look as though they’re heading straight back to League One.
And this poor pitch condition is symbolic of the poor financial state and poor running of the club, with owner Dejphon Chansiri once again facing huge backlash from the loyal Wednesday fans.
Not only is it a bad look for the club but it will also greatly hinder Sheffield Wednesday’s playing style, which is high pressing and fast-paced under Rohl.
So Wednesday’s poor management, of all things as well as the pitch, is once again impacting upon results on the pitch.
Tonight’s game feels like a must-win with just 16 league fixtures left including this one; a loss would really unsettle the fans and probably Rohl, who’ll no doubt be fed up with how things have panned out over the past few weeks.
Kick off is at 8pm tonight and the game will be shown live on Sky Sports.