Sheffield Wednesday travel to Colchester United for their first away game of the season with Alan Irvine likely to welcome back some of the squad that sat out the Carling Cup game against Bury in midweek.
Wednesday were unconvincing in their 1-0 over the Shakers on Tuesday evening so Marcus Tudgay and Chris Sedgwick, who were both left out of the squad, are expected to return to the starting 11. Having made a total of 6 changes for the cup game it would be no surprise to see Irvine revert back to the team that started the opening match of the season when the Owls beat Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 last weekend.
Having kicked off their season with a 2-2 draw at Exeter, Colchester recorded a comfortable 3-0 win at Hereford in the Carling Cup and will be looking forward to hosting the Owls in their first home game of the season. On loan striker David Mooney bagged a brace in the cup win and faces a race to prove his fitness for this game having picked up a knock.
Former Barnsley striker Kayode Odejayi could start in attack for the home side and the Owls will need to be wary of youngster Anthony Wordsworth after the midfielder scored both goals in Colchester’s opening game.
Wednesday will be making their first visit to the Weston Homes Community Stadium, the new ground that Colchester moved to in the summer of 2008. The Owls last visit to Colchester ended in a 2-1 victory at Layer Road in March 2008, coming from behind to win thanks to first half goals from Deon Burton and Wade Small.
That result was Wednesday’s only win in 8 away games against the U’s who have beaten the Owls 8 times and lost just 4 in 16 historical meetings between the two sides.
The visitors will be looking to address a poor run of away results which saw them fail to win any of their final 10 games away from Hillsborough last season.