Saturday team news

Last week many pundits wrongly predicted the return to the team of strikers Akpo Sodje and Deon Burton when in actual fact neither player made the bench at Crystal Palace.

It appears that Sodje's ankle injury is worse than was initially diagnosed and his return has been further delayed but Burton is back in contention although he is unlikely to play 90 minutes and manager Brian Laws is weighing up whether to play him from the start against Watford or use him as an impact substitute later in the game. Laws told the SWFC official website "Whether he starts I'm not sure. We'll have to think about this one, but he'll certainly take part at some stage."

The return of Burton will be a boost in that the Owls will have the opportunity to revert to their usual 4-4-2 system having experimented with 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 since the injury to Sodje left the team with one experienced striker in Marcus Tudgay. Wade Small has also played up-front in a 4-4-2 during this spell but it is not the wingers preferred position.

With Simek ruled out for 6-8 weeks Lee Bullen will have the opportunity to stake a claim for the right-back role.

The match is also the last game of Michael Johnson's loan term from Derby County which could possibly open the door for youngster Mark Beevers who has impressed in recent outings, but will leave the Owls short of defensive cover over the Christmas period.