Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Fleetwood Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Sheffield Wednesday continue their quest to return to the Championship when they welcome Fleetwood Town to Hillsborough for League One's third round of matches on Tuesday.

The hosts have made a decent start to life in the third tier, currently sitting sixth in the table, whilst their opponents are yet to get off the mark.

Match preview

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After nine seasons in the Championship, Sheffield Wednesday were relegated to League One last year, with a six-point deduction for breaching EFL spending rules one of the main contributing factors to their downfall.

Despite being under a transfer embargo up until last month, a drastic squad overhaul took place over summer, with 14 players departing and 11 joining the club.

It seems to have had the desired effect, with Darren Moore's new-look team making a promising start with a draw and a win from their first two games.

A somewhat dull affair at Charlton Athletic resulted in a 0-0 draw on the opening day, but they followed that up with a much better performance on Saturday - second-half efforts from captain Barry Bannan and one of the new boys Dennis Adeniran earning the Owls a 2-0 victory over their South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers.

With Wednesday having kept a clean sheet in their last four home games and Fleetwood having lost five on the trot, Moore will be confident of picking up another win and building some momentum for their promotion charge.

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Simon Grayson will have to hope for a change in fortunes, both in their record against Tuesday's opponents and their overall form so far this campaign.

It has been the final half-hour of games that has been Fleetwood's undoing in their first two encounters. They held out until the 60-minute mark in their opening game against Portsmouth, before Lee Brown scored the winner, and held the lead for much of Saturday's game against Lincoln City, only for an Anthony Scully brace in the final 21 minutes to see them come away empty-handed once more.

After reaching the playoffs in the 2019-20 season, the Cod Army had a disappointing campaign last year, finishing in 13th spot with just a 13-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.

If they are not careful, things could get worse still this season - they can count themselves a little unlucky to be sitting without a point in the relegation zone, but it is often the finest of margins which make the difference at this level, and a run of poor luck and execution can quickly see you in a battle you did not expect to be a part of.

Team News

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St Gallen loanee Florian Kamberi will likely continue to spearhead the Sheffield Wednesday attack, after Callum Paterson was stretchered off with a nasty head injury on the opening day.

Behind him, the goalscoring midfielders from the win over Doncaster - Bannan and Adeniran - will be joined by Lewis Wing in a three-man midfield once again.

Former Liverpool academy prospect Jordan Rossiter will again lead out the Fleetwood side as captain, joined in a young midfield by 20-year-old Jay Matete.

Grayson has preferred a 3-4-3 formation of late. He may change things up considering their run of losses but, either way, goalscorer Danny Andrew will organise the backline from the centre.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Hunt, Hutchinson, Iorfa, Palmer; Adeniran, Bannan, Wing; Green, Johnson, Kamberi

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Cairns; Hill, Andrew, Clarke; Clark, Rossiter, Matete, Halliday; Morton, Garner, Morris

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Fleetwood Town

The clubs' difference in form coming into the game is impossible to ignore as the two sides meet for the first time in their history. Expect Wednesday to leave with a 100% record.