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Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood has a fight on his hands to prove to Garry Monk that he deserves the number one spot full-time.

In the Owls’ last outing, they were left bitterly disappointed as they fell to a late defeat at the Hawthorns against a promotion-chasing West Brom side thanks to a Charlie Austin penalty with just two minutes left to play.

The penalty incident came when Matheus Pereira found himself breaking into the Wednesday area, before being brought down by an onrushing Westwood. There were few complaints from teammates as a rush of blood to the ‘keeper daw him make a rash decision that ultimately cost Wednesday a good draw away from home.

This mistake came after a string of shaky performances in the Owls’ goal of late as their form has begun to take a sour turn heading into the festive period. There have been multiple games this season under Garry Monk where lapses in concentration have cost the side priceless points both home and away.

After the weekend’s game, Garry Monk confirmed that Westwood would not be playing against Birmingham, outlining that Cameron Dawson would get the nod. This revelation came regardless of the fact that Westwood was due to miss out anyway with a slight shoulder injury. 

This leaves the Irish international in a very sticky situation at the moment. Dawson has mainly been used as a backup goalkeeper in his time at Hillsborough but certainly has the quality to step in as a regular starter for the side. This season has been strong evidence of his capabilities in between the goalposts and his best performance so far came in the Owls’ 1-0 win over Stoke City when his incredible reaction save kept out what looked like a certain goal from Lee Gregory.

Westwood will be hoping that Dawson’s efforts in his absence don’t show enough that he remains in the side for the foreseeable future, because this show of faith from Monk will surely be ringing alarm bells for Westwood after his latest mistake cost Wednesday a point. 

Can you name every top Sheffield Wednesday goalscorer from last 15 seasons?

Westwood must be patient now as he looks to recover from the slight injury as Dawson will certainly be sensing a great opportunity to stay in the starting lineup. There is no telling whether Monk favours Westwood as the long term number one, but the Irish stopper will have to work hard to ensure that Monk gives him another chance to prove why he was in the side to begin with.

Westwood was part of the Wednesday side for the majority of Monk’s early games and was part of the defence that tightened up significantly upon his arrival, seeing them rise into the play-off places in October. Monk will certainly have those efforts in his head when considering the solution to this selection dilemma, but Westwood will know the short term decision is out of his hands after another error. His plan now must be to work hard to regain his place in the lineup, to then put in accomplished performances to see Wednesday turn their form around going into the new year.