Sheffield Wednesday suffered a 5th straight defeat on Tuesday evening, going down to a 2-0 defeat at Southampton in the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup.
To come up against a Premier League side on their own turf was a tough draw for Dave Jones’ side but the harsh reality is that Wednesday are stuck in a rut at the moment, unable to stop leaking goals.
Both sides made numerous changes to the teams that started their respective league games last weekend with the Saints making 9 and the Owls 7.
Martin Taylor and Ross Barkley were cup-tied and Chris Kirkland, Rhys McCabe and Jay Bothroyd were left out having picked up knocks.
Full-backs Kieran Lee and Daniel Jones kept their places as did wide men Nejc Pecnik and Michail Antonio.
The match was ultimately decided by Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez who bagged his first goals for the club, one in each half with the second coming from the penalty spot.
In trying to take some positives from the game, Kieran Lee had another good run out at right-back in the first half but picked up an injury which will be a concern ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wolves. Joe Mattock replaced him at half-time and it was his foul that resulted in the penalty that wrapped up the win for the home said. In truth Mattock may have been slightly unfortunate to concede the penalty as he appeared to slip and the initial contact may have been outside the penalty area. It does however appear evident that he looks uncomfortable playing at right-back.
Youngster Paul Corry made his debut in the Owls midfield and although he may not have had the best of games the experience will have been invaluable for the Irish prospect.
Chris Maguire got a rare chance up front but didn’t really make a big claim for a place in the side at Wolves. It is worrying that the Owls strikers are finding it almost as hard to score as the defence is finding it to keep a clean sheet.
Yet more changes will be made on Saturday as Dave Jones bids to find some of the form that saw his side look so lively and competitive in the opening few games of the season. Wolves have come into form in the league of late and will be eager to put the 6-0 drubbing that they suffered at Chelsea in the League Cup on Tuesday behind them.