Sheffield Wednesday go up against Stoke City in the Championship this afternoon, and one Owls man could be in store for a real battle.
Sheffield Wednesday make the trip to Stoke City as they look to go on a three-game unbeaten run following last week’s heroics at Hillsborough.
The draw over Leicester City and win over Blackburn Rovers is still fresh in the mind of Wednesday fans, but they and the team will know that a trip to Stoke is another tough outing.
The Potters have dropped down the table in recent weeks. They sit in 20th and just 11 points ahead of the Owls after a run of five games without a win.
Potters boss Alex Neil is under-fire and so he’ll be counting on a win against bottom club Sheffield Wednesday, and he’ll be counting on midfielder Ben Pearson to deliver another combative performance.
The 28-year-old worked with Neil at Preston before and was brought to the bet365 Stadium by the Scot ahead of this season, with Neil labelling Pearson as a ‘fantastic’ addition.
And the midfielder could be in store for a key battle in the middle of the pitch against Will Vaulks today.
Will Vaulks in store for physical battle against Ben Pearson
Vaulks has worked his way back into the XI under Danny Rohl.
He’s started the last three now and in the Blackburn game in particular, Vaulks was everywhere, making tackles and interceptions and keeping Rovers from really creating anything meaningful.
His game is similar to Pearson’s in that they look to break up opposition attacks, but the pair also make a lot of passes themselves and so they’ll be looking to cancel out each other’s game today.
This battle could well be where today’s game is won, though given Vaulks’ recent impressive form and Stoke’s downturn, many might back Vaulks and Sheffield Wednesday to win the battle and indeed the game.
Can Sheffield Wednesday come out on top?
It’s a tall order, but for the first time this season, Sheffield Wednesday are confident, and Stoke are a good team to play right now.
They’re in a poor run of form and it looks like Neil could well be on borrowed time after a fairly dire season so far.
He was once hailed as a great tactician but that title is slowly slipping away from him, whilst Rohl is just starting to prove how good he is on that front.
Expect the German to have a clear idea of how he wants or expects today’s game to pan out, with Rohl no doubt identifying the battle between Vaulks and Pearson in the middle of the park as a key one for his side to win.
Vaulks needs to maintain this current form, and so too do his teammates with not one player failing to impress in the last outing vs Blackburn Rovers.
Today’s game kicks off at 3pm.