Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to recover from their humiliation against Sunderland this Sunday as they travel to Shropshire to face midtable outfit Shrewsbury Town.

The Owls may see this as a best possible tie to redeem themselves in, not having the pressure of performing in front of the Hillsborough crowd, not having to travel to another promotion contender and if they pick up a victory, this will go some way in paying back those loyal supporters who travelled a long way to see their team get hammered at the Stadium of Light.

Despite previously being on an unbeaten run, manager Darren Moore knows he will be under real pressure if he fails to pick up a win in this tie - because their performance against the Black Cats on Thursday evening was well below par.

 

 

Because of this, drastic action may be needed to turn around their fortunes and freshen things up, as they will be very low on confidence if they go into this tie against Steve Cotterill's men utilising the same back three system.

This gives more many dilemmas to contend with, not just in terms of the system but also personnel with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing making his first start for the club on Wearside.

Who will keep their place in the first 11? And who could come in to guide Wednesday to what would be a morale-boosting victory on the road?

We have predicted the starting lineup boss Moore may go with, with a potential formation change in the offing.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell keeps his place, not really being at fault for any of the goals and probably preventing the scoreline from being six or seven on the night. The South Yorkshire side will be hoping the result hasn't knocked his confidence too much.

To potentially tighten things up at the back, providing the Owls with a real structure, a flat back four may aid their cause with Marvin Johnson potentially benefitting from being back on the left, giving him the chance to get forward on the odd occasion.

Ciaran Brennan comes straight back into the lineup having been dropped in favour of Chey Dunkley, but the latter was withdrawn and Moore may not want to risk him because of that so he partners Liam Palmer in central defence, whilst Jack Hunt continues on the right.

In the middle of the park, with Lewis Wing on the verge of being recalled back to Middlesbrough by Chris Wilder, it's down to Barry Bannan and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to win the midfield battle.

That could be crucial to their potential victory.

Another two changes to the lineup from their last outing comes on the wings, with Queens Park Rangers loanee Olamide Shodipo and Wolves loanee Theo Corbeanu coming in to shake things up out wide.

Both will be given a reasonable amount of freedom to express themselves and get forward, so this should be seen as a great experience for both who will only have limited defensive responsibilities.

And up top, Moore seems to like the combination of Callum Paterson and Lee Gregory, although he also has the likes of Florian Kamberi and Saido Berahino to call upon if needed. The latter will be especially keen to prove a point following his return to English football.