Darren Moore will return to Hillsborough on Saturday, as he leads Huddersfield Town into an important contest at the bottom end of the Championship table away at former club Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls will begin life without Xisco Munoz, with Moore's replacement having been dismissed on Thursday, leaving Saturday's hosts at the foot of the division with just two points from nine games.
Match preview
© Reuters
After winning promotion back to the Championship under Darren Moore last season, Sheffield Wednesday now find themselves having put up their worst-ever start to a league season, with just two points on the board from their opening 10 outings.
Following Moore's summer departure, the Owls tasked Xisco Munoz with leading them into the second tier, but they had to endure a particularly tough first stretch, losing their opening four league matches before earning a first point before the international break in a goalless draw away at Leeds United.
Things have not picked up for the South Yorkshire outfit since the return to action, either, as they firstly lost 1-0 at home to Ipswich Town and played out a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, thanks to a goal from Anthony Musaba, before suffering three more defeats consecutively heading into this weekend, spelling the end of Munoz's short stint at Hillsborough.
Following back-to-back 3-0 beatings at the hands of Swansea City and Sunderland, they most recently travelled to The Hawthorns to take on West Bromwich Albion, and the Owls again came away empty-handed as they were unable to find a leveller following John Swift's early opener.
Now under the temporary stewardship of Neil Thompson, with a gap having already formed at the bottom of the table as they sit three points behind 23rd-placed Rotherham United and seven adrift of safety, Sheffield Wednesday will be desperate to end their wait for a first league win of the season on Saturday at Hillsborough.
© Reuters
In their way stand promotion-winning boss Darren Moore and his new Huddersfield Town side, who also head into the weekend on the back of a midweek away defeat.
The Terriers successfully avoided relegation late last season under the stewardship of Neil Warnock, who agreed to guide them into the new term too, eventually departing last month with the Yorkshire outfit sat on eight points from seven games on the back of consecutive victories over West Bromwich Albion and Rotherham United and a 2-2 draw with Stoke City.
The hierarchy would act quickly to bring Moore in as their new boss, and his tenure began with a tough trip to Coventry City, in which they took a share of the spoils from a 1-1 draw thanks to Michal Helik's 95th-minute leveller, before making it back-to-back draws under Moore and four league games unbeaten at home to Ipswich Town last weekend, albeit in disappointing fashion as Brandon Williams levelled the scores at a goal apiece three minutes from time after Delano Burgzorg had the Terriers ahead.
Still with positives to take from that result against the high-fliers, Huddersfield set out to make it six league games unbeaten on Tuesday when they travelled to St Andrews to take on Birmingham City, but Moore's side were well beaten as Siriki Dembele netted a brace alongside goals from Koji Miyoshi and Jordan James in a 4-1 home triumph, with Helik's 92nd-minute goal nothing more than a consolation.
Such a result saw them drop back down to 19th spot in the Championship with 10 points on the board from 10 outings, and they will now look to get one over on their Yorkshire rivals and the league's basement side to climb back away from the bottom three this weekend.
Team News
© Reuters
We are yet to see how Neil Thompson will line Sheffield Wednesday up, although he will be unable to call on talismanic captain Barry Bannan, with the midfielder confined to the treatment room alongside key attacker Josh Windass and Momo Diaby.
With Bannan and Diaby ruled out, Will Vaulks and Tyreeq Bakinson partnered up in midfield on Tuesday, although George Byers is expected to come back in from the start this weekend whether a midfield pair or trio is deployed, with summer signings John Buckley and Jeff Hendrick also competing to start.
Lee Gregory is also hoping to come in up front after Michael Smith and Ashley Fletcher led the line against West Brom, while Di'Shon Bernard and Dominic Iorfa will continue to play an important role at the heart of whichever defensive structure is fielded.
Huddersfield have several injury issues of their own to deal with heading into their trip to Hillsborough, with key midfielder Jonathan Hogg sidelined alongside Oliver Turton, David Kasumu and Danny Ward.
In Hogg's absence, defender Yuta Nakayama moved forward to join Jack Rudoni and Ben Wiles in the engine room in midweek, and we could see the same midfield trio again with Matty Pearson, Michal Helik and former Owls captain Tom Lees bound to line up in an unaltered back three.
Delano Burgzorg and Sorba Thomas were given the nod to lead the line away at Birmingham, although they face competition for attacking places with Josh Koroma, Brahima Diarra and Kian Harratt all fighting to come in.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Iorfa, Bernard, Famewo; Palmer, Buckley, Byers, Vaulks, Musaba; Smith, Gregory
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Lees; Edwards, Nakayama, Wiles, Rudoni, Ruffels; Thomas, Koroma
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Huddersfield Town
Sheffield Wednesday will hope to galvanise in front of a home Hillsborough crowd after Munoz's departure and seal a much-needed first win of the campaign, but they have looked devoid of quality throughout the Championship season thus far, and we do not envisage them taking all three points against the Terriers, instead opting for a share of the spoils in their reunion with Darren Moore.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
