Sheffield Wednesday welcome Coventry City in the Championship this afternoon, and one Sky Blues player could dictate the game.
Sheffield Wednesday were dealt a humbling 4-0 defeat away at Southampton last time out.
The defeat left the Owls in 22nd place of the Championship table and now four points from safety, with another tough game against top six opposition today.
Coventry City have lost just one of their last 12 in the Championship, beating Leicester City 3-1 in their last outing to move up into 6th before Hull City beat Sunderland last night.
And one man has been instrumental behind the Sky Blues’ resurgence; Callum O’Hare.
Callum O’Hare back with a bang
O’Hare, 25, missed the bulk of last season through an injury which carried on into this campaign.
But the ‘brilliant’ former Aston Villa man made his return in October and has gone from strength to strength since, rediscovering his best form and pushing what was a struggling Coventry outfit up the standings; in eight games that he’s started this season, Mark Robins’ side have lost just one.
O’Hare already has five goals to his name in the Championship this season and was on hand to score twice against the league leaders last time out.
He operates as a no.10 and is at his best when dribbling forward with the ball, cutting inside and curling shots into the bottom corner of the net.
In four games against Sheffield Wednesday, O’Hare has won two and lost two, but has recorded three assists against the Owls.
Sheffield Wednesday could struggle to handle O’Hare today
A few weeks ago, Danny Rohl would’ve had the perfect man to maintain O’Hare; Will Vaulks.
But the Welshman has missed a couple of games with injury since then and he’s not looked the same.
Rohl deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation v Southampton with Barry Bannan one of the holding midfielders, though today’s game could give Rohl a bit of a selection headache in midfield.
Who partners Bannan remains to be seen, but it may have to be someone who is agile and combative so that they can keep up with O’Hare and provide those last-ditch tackles.
Vaulks may well come back into the fold and if he can play like he did against the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Leicester last month, then O’Hare will be kept quiet.
George Byers or Momo Diaby could be options to come in, but one thing is certain and that is that Rohl needs a plan to contain O’Hare at Hillsborough today.
Doing so could give Sheffield Wednesday a much-needed win against quality opposition.