Sheffield Wednesday have another mammoth task on their hands this weekend when they head to Birmingham City in the Championship.
When a team is as poor and as out of form as Sheffield Wednesday are this season, every game is a huge challenge.
This weekend’s assignment at St Andrew’s is no different. But Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City aren’t in the best of form either and so for Danny Rohl and his side, a win is certainly possible.
Rooney has taken just one point from his opening five games in charge of Birmingham City compared to Rohl who’s taken three from a possible 15 as Owls boss.
Whilst Rohl, and indeed no manager in the Championship, has a similar playing experience to Rooney, Rohl certainly seems to have had a better coaching experience to date, and he’ll have to use all of his expertise to get past a Blues side with some good players in it.
A star in the making…
Rooney burst onto the scene as a young striker. He was raw, but with guidance he became a Premier League legend, and Blues forward Jay Stansfield has a great opportunity to learn from Rooney this season.
The 21-year-old joined on loan from Fulham in the summer and started strong; he’s since scored five in 13 Championship outings for Blues, having scored twice under Rooney so far.
The England U21 man is already a favourite among Blues supporters, and he was well-liked by former Birmingham City boss John Eustace, who said of Stansfield earlier in the season:
“He is a threat from that area. He can create and score from there. He has proven that already. I think he can play anywhere across that front four.”
How can Sheffield Wednesday contain Stansfield?
Managing Stansfield and his threat will be key if Sheffield Wednesday want to take anything from this game.
Like Eustace said, Stansfield is a threat in numerous positions, and where he might be deployed on Saturday remains to be seen, giving Rohl a potential headache ahead of this one.
If Stansfield is on the wing then Wednesday’s wing-backs will be in for a tricky afternoon, whichever side he starts on, and Rohl might yet consider playing a more defensive-minded player in that position instead of someone like Marvin Johnson who may offer more going forward.
But if Stansfield plays down the middle which seems most likely, then Sheffield Wednesday’s centre-backs will need to work together to limit his threat.
He’s a very pacy player and so Rohl might consider keeping the physical presence of Bambo Diaby in defence to deal with that; should that be the case then Diaby vs Stansfield could be a key battle in tomorrow’s game.
The game at St Andrew’s kicks off at 3pm.