Sheffield Wednesday make the short trip to Huddersfield Town in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, for a crunch match at the bottom of the table.
As things stand, Sheffield Wednesday sit in 23rd place of the Championship table and Huddersfield Town in 21st, with five points between the two.
Needless to say, tomorrow’s game is a hugely important one in the fight for survival this season, and Huddersfield will be looking for an uplift after parting ways with former Owls boss Darren Moore ahead of this one.
Danny Rohl though will be hoping that his side can continue their positive run of performances, albeit with a lack of cutting edge in draws against Watford and Coventry City in the last two outings at Hillsborough.
And Rohl may also be counting on deadline day arrivals Kristian Pedersen and Ian Poveda to give the team a boost; the latter in particular who joins on loan from Leeds United for the remainder of the season.
Why Ian Poveda must start for Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield Town
Poveda, described as ‘class’ by former Blackpool boss Mick McCarthy during a loan spell with the Seasiders, seems like a very exciting player.
The former Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Barcelona youngster had a lot of hype early on in his career, and he arguably still does, but in two-and-a-half seasons at Leeds he’s failed to make an impression.
He’s shown glimpses, and Leeds fans will mostly say that he is definitely a player who can cause opposition players problems with his trickery and forward-thinking. But the overriding message is that Poveda really needs to kick on.
And he has the chance to do so at Sheffield Wednesday. Poveda could become a cult hero if he can provide the goods for Wednesday in their fight for survival, with Rohl evidently lacking that bit of magic and quality in the final third right now.
So if he’s available, Rohl must start Poveda tomorrow; although it would be throwing him at the deep end, Sheffield Wednesday are desperately lacking a bit of something right now, and Poveda with his agility, pace, and drive would definitely bring that something to the XI, providing that he’s fit and in form.
Consistency seems to be the key with Poveda and the best way to get that from him is giving him a run of games in the side, ideally starting sooner rather than later with just 17 games of the season remaining.
Sheffield Wednesday now have 17 games to close a five-point gap to Huddersfield, though with QPR making moves on deadline day, it’s going to be very difficult to pull themselves to safety.
Poveda could come in and start as a no.10; potentially pushing Josh Windass to the bench or up top, assuming that Rohl goes 4-2-3-1.
Tomorrow’s game could be Sheffield Wednesday’s biggest of the season so far, and a much-needed win would give the players a huge confidence boost.