Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has had his say on Sheffield Wednesday’s recent form ahead of their Championship clash on Saturday.
Sheffield Wednesday welcome Paul Heckingbottom and his Preston North End side to Hillsborough on Sunday, with the Owls returning to S6 after a successful couple of away outings in the Championship.
Last week, Wednesday won at Hull City, then coming from behind to beat Derby County 2-1, with Sheffield Wednesday claiming their first win at Pride Park since 2006 in the process.
That win at Derby leaves Danny Rohl’s side in 12th place of the Championship table and now within touching distance of the top six.
Just five points separate Wednesday and Watford in 6th, whilst the Owls currently have a 10-point buffer between themselves and Hull City in 22nd.
Preston meanwhile sit in 18th place of the table and are winless in eight. Wednesday on the other hand have lost just one of their last five in the Championship, winning three of them.
Paul Heckingbottom plays down Sheffield Wednesday’s strong form ahead of Preston clash
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Heckingbottom gave his verdict on Sheffield Wednesday’s recent form in the Championship.
He believes that the Owls were better last season. And that might be true if we look at the run of form in the second half of the campaign that eventually kept the Owls in the league.
But Heckingbottom also went on to say that Sheffield Wednesday are ‘probably not playing any better than they were at the start of the season’, which is simply untrue.
The Preston boss told the club: “In terms of results and form, the results last season were probably better over the period, but they’ve not changed too much.
“People are saying they’ve picked up results and they’re playing well, but they’re probably not playing any better than they were at the start of the season. I think that just shows how tight this league is.”
Sheffield Wednesday’s last five results compared to their first five results of 2024/25
The Owls got off to a blistering start in this 2024/25 season, with Sheffield Wednesday thumping Plymouth Argyle 4-0 in the opening day.
But the next four games would prove winless for the Owls. In their following game, Sheffield Wednesday were beaten 4-0 away at Sunderland, then losing against Leeds United, Luton Town, and Millwall, before halting the run of losses with a 1-1 draw against QPR.
After five games of this season, Wednesday had just four points to their name and were down in 20th place of the table.
In the last five games before this Preston clash, Wednesday have taken 10 points from a possible 15.
So Wednesday are certainly proving much stronger now than they were at the start of the campaign, disproving Heckingbottom’s claim about their patchy form.