Sheffield Wednesday recorded their third straight victory on Saturday as a 2-0 win over Yeovil lifted the Owls into 4th place in League One. It was the South Yorkshire side’s 4th clean sheet in succession and they have conceded only 7 goals in 12 league games to date, the best record in the division and a statistic that is only bettered by QPR in the whole of the football league.
Despite being blessed with a variety of attacking options manager Alan Irvine has developed a team that is primarily hard to break down. The regular back four consisting of Purse, Beevers, Buxton and Spurr have all come in for some criticism at times this season from some sections of the Owls support but it is difficult to argue with the statistics as they stand. Whenever they have been found wanting goalkeeper Nicky Weaver has come to their rescue more often than not. The former Manchester City stopper has proved to be an able replacement for Lee Grant who was sold to Burnley on the eve of the season to ease the clubs’ financial woes.
The return from injury this weekend of Jermaine Johnson is set to add some much needed pace and zest to the Owls attacking play and it could be a very timely return as the defence are set for a stern test of their abilities next weekend. Bournemouth visit Hillsborough on Saturday currently sitting in third place in League One and have the second best attacking record in the division to date, scoring 26 times in 12 matches.