EFL pundit Ali Maxwell believes Sheffield Wednesday are in the perfect situation at this stage and thinks they will enjoy another successful month, speaking on the Not The Top 20 Podcast.

The Owls are currently sitting at the top of the League One table and are eight points clear of Ipswich Town who are in third place, giving them a satisfying cushion going into the final couple of months of the campaign.

With just 14 league games left to go this season, they are closing in on a return to the Championship at the second time of asking and could secure promotion reasonably quickly if they can retain their consistency.

They may have been knocked out of the FA Cup by Fleetwood Town - but this has given them the opportunity to focus solely on the league and that could be crucial for them as they look to maintain their unbeaten run.

Not losing a single league match since the early stages of October, with that defeat coming against automatic promotion rivals Plymouth Argyle, they are currently in very good shape.

And Maxwell believes they are in a strong position to go on and win promotion now, with Darren Moore's men in "the most beautiful zone".

He said (16:43): "Pretty much every season, a team in the EFL just gets into the most beautiful zone. The purest team winning zone.

"Repeatable and consistent and strong and it just carries you and carries you through February and March - and suddenly you're in April and you're getting the bunting out, you're getting the streamers ready and you're getting the confetti.

"That's where I feel Sheffield Wednesday are at the moment, I really, really do. In the last two months in particular, I just think they've hit this perfect zone."

The Verdict:

They are certainly in an ideal situation at this stage and have the depth throughout their squad to thrive, even if injuries come into play.

David Stockdale can come back in for Cameron Dawson at any point, though the latter is doing very well at the moment and should retain his starting spot if he can continue to perform well in South Yorkshire.

They also have a lot of expertise at the back and the addition of Aden Flint was an excellent one, providing them with extra protection at the back and increasing competition in the centre-back department in the absence of Ben Heneghan.

Liam Palmer and Marvin Johnson can be real assets at wing-back - and they definitely have the class in midfield to do well in the second and third tier - with Barry Bannan, George Byers and Will Vaulks proving to be a deadly trio in this division.

They aren't short of quality up top either - and you have to commend manager Moore for his contribution to the cause too because he has had to deal with very high expectations.

It's only right that expectations were high considering the quality in their squad - but dealing with that pressure can be difficult.