Sheffield Wednesday

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen felt his side showed the right response in their hard-fought 1-0 loss at Millwall after Sunday's derby humiliation against Sheffield United.

Pedersen was pleased with his players' attitude and they pushed promotion-chasing Millwall all the way, hitting the woodwork through Charlie McNeill and Jamal Lowe.

He told BBC Radio Sheffield: "The boys are back again. We saw our boys with a big, big heart, fantastic mentality and a good togetherness. We worked really hard against a very good and strong opponent.

"We had big chances at important moments. We have to be better to score when we get the chances and we are working on it, but the fundamentals to win football games are a top heart and top togetherness, and the boys showed that in a really good way.

"When we performed like that [Sunday] of course we spoke about it, we had to be honest about it. We had a good meeting and the reaction was good."

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield

Image source, Getty Images

It's been a difficult past few months for Sheffield United fans but winning the Steel City derby was something to enjoy. A big win in their bitter rivals' backyard.

Supporters had about 48 hours to properly soak it in.

Then a controversial report emerged. United's owners, COH, had supposedly contacted Sheffield Wednesday's administrators to make an enquiry.

It's an explosive story, leaving everyone to wonder if COH were checking in on a potential merger plan. Some form of comment was necessary from a group who have not done a single press conference since taking over.

A club address emerged a day later.

The co-owners Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy spoke about the disappointing start to the season. They declared they still aimed to one day get back in the Premier League.

There was a clichéd platitude - "this journey is a marathon, not a sprint" - and a call to "focus all of our energy on supporting Chris (Wilder) and the team".

There was, of course, one glaring omission. There was no denial of the story. Nothing to say the report on contacting Wednesday's administrators was untrue.

I've done a bit of digging and my understanding is there's truth to the original report of contact being made, although it's unclear precisely what the motivations were.

It begs the question, what on earth were they thinking?

What possible logical reason would there be to make contact? Did they think a merger was possible? Anyone in this city will tell you that if you think a merger is an option, you have absolutely no grasp of Sheffield football.

Let's reflect on the last few months of COH's first year of ownership.

They moved Wilder out of the club, appointed Ruben Selles and watched a promotion favourite drop into the Championship's bottom three.

Red faced, they hastily brought Wilder back to rescue things and, now, this story.

COH inherited a healthy club that has enjoyed plenty of success in recent years. They had/have a serial winner in charge of the football side of things in Wilder. There are highly competent people working behind the scenes.

All they needed to do was offer support and leadership. They've done the opposite and created a situation where fans are rightly wondering if they 'get' their club or English football in general.

If there was no enquiry and the reports and chatter are incorrect - say so. If not, and it's all true, it needs to be explained.

And after that explanation, any thought of a merger - if that was the reason for the enquiry - should be consigned to the rubbish bin of bad ideas forever.

Millwall will look to end their four match winless streak as they host basement side Sheffield Wednesday in the midweek.

The Lions' past four league games have seen two draws and two losses to put them just outside the top six on goal difference.

On Wednesday (19:45 BST), the side may have the opportunity to return to the play-off spots and face an Owls side that have not claimed a win since September.

• Millwall have lost just one of their last nine league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W4 D4), keeping six clean sheets in that run.

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost four of their last six away league games against Millwall, with the exceptions being a 0-0 draw in February 2019 and a 2-0 win in February 2024.

• Millwall lost three of their first four home league games this season (W1), scoring just once and conceding nine. The Lions are now unbeaten in their last four at home (W3 D1), scoring seven goals and conceding just once.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their last 11 away league games (D6 L4), beating Portsmouth 2-0 in September. However, the Owls have earned more points away from home (6) than they have at Hillsborough so far this season.

• Sheffield Wednesday's Jamal Lowe has scored three goals in his last five league starts against Millwall, with all of three of these coming at the Den.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

The Sheffield Wednesday fans who called BBC Sheffield after the Steel City derby were not happy.

In the build-up Owls fans were reflective, acknowledging they might get beat given the recent chaos at Hillsborough but expecting a lot of effort nonetheless.

There was talk of this being a two-game season for Wednesday (the two derbies) with relegation likely, having suffered one points deduction already and with the possibility for further penalties in the future.

Yet our phone-in had fans saying they felt short-changed by the way their team went about things.

Most appreciate this season is an enormous challenge for Henrik Pedersen and his players. For the first time on Sunday, a few questions were asked though.

Where was the fight? Is the style of play right for this group and situation?

Wednesday had the majority of possession in the derby (59.3%). Yet they failed to have a shot on goal and their xG (0.33) was way off United's (1.8).

A trend is starting to emerge.

Wednesday have played eight games since the start of October. In that period they have averaged 54% possession. If you take out the West Brom draw, where they only had 38.1% of the ball, the average jumps to 56.2%.

In this period they've been out-shot 85 to112 by opponents. Their total xG is 8.63 compared to 14.61 for the opposing team.

If you just look at the games they have lost, they're averaging 57.9% possession, have an xG of 6.22 whilst their opponents' xG jumps to 11.77.

There are possible explanations. In certain games the Owls have been comfortably behind in the second half. Are opponents are happy to sit in and let Wednesday have the ball?

Being out-shot in games is not unexpected, given how stripped bare the squad is. Wednesday don't have much of a goal threat.

Plus, having a lot of the ball might enable tired players to conserve energy. There is no chance of any realistic rotation at Hillsborough this season.

However, on a day where fans expected a classic Yorkshire derby effort - full of fire - many were left disappointed by what they saw.

The Owls did not lay a glove on United who were comfortable and worthy winners. It could easily have been more than 3-0.

It is worth wondering if the method fits the situation. Is a possession-based approach, if that is what this is, appropriate for a team that needs to scrap for every point? Particularly in this game?

Image source, Shutterstock Editorial

Henrik Pedersen admitted that Sheffield Wednesday failed to make their possession count after subsiding to a 3-0 defeat against neighbours Sheffield United at Hillsborough.

The Owls, who remain 18 points adrift of safety at the foot of the Championship, slumped to their third straight loss in the Steel City derby.

"It was not the performance we hoped to give all the fantastic fans in Hillsborough today," Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"We struggled a bit with belief to move the ball quickly enough and I think from the defensive perspective we were not as dominant as we often are with our pressing.

"We had the ball I think 64% in the second half, but we had it from our own goal to the last 20 metres of the opponents' half and we struggled to find the last pass.

"How do we break the defensive line of the opponent? It's a theme of the season – the purpose of having the ball is to create chances but I promise, we'll work a lot on this to be better."

Sheffield Wednesday head coach Henrik Pedersen says new signing Liam Cooper will be fit for the Steel City derby.

Cooper joined the Owls as a free agent during the international break setting up a potential reunion with former Leeds team-mate Patrick Bamford who could make his debut for rivals Sheffield United.

"I think he'll be ready for Sunday," Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"He's fantastic. In this market now, to find experience is easy but to find experience with hunger can be difficult. He has both.

"He is fantastic at how he leads in the training, how he supports the players around him and how he makes an example for what is okay and what is not okay is fantastic so I'm really, really happy for Liam."

You can listen to more from Henrik Pedersen ahead of the Steel City derby on BBC Sounds.

If you're wondering where your team is going to finish in the Championship this season, you no longer need to worry.

Well, kind of.

Opta's supercomputer has worked its magic to figure out the most likely final league position of every team - and the chances each has of being promoted, making the play-offs or getting relegated.

Who is most likely to win automatic promotion?

It will come as no surprise that leaders Coventry are heavy favourites for the title (69.3%) and also have the highest chance of automatic promotion (84.2%) to the Premier League.

The next most likely to go straight up, with a 30.8% chance, are Middlesbrough. Despite currently sitting seventh and six points behind Boro in second, Ipswich are expected to be the third favourites for a top two finish (18.9%) followed by Stoke (14.1%).

Even though they've each enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Preston (10.3%), Hull (6.1%) and Millwall (8.3%) have slimmer chances of finishing in an automatic promotion spot.

Who will make the play-offs?

Image source, Rex Features

Even if Coventry don't win automatic promotion, Opta's supercomputer has given the Sky Blues a 97.9% chance of a top-six finish, suggesting it's almost guaranteed.

Each of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Preston and Stoke are expected to finish in a minimum of a play-off position at least one in two times.

Hull might feel the hardest done by as they sit fifth currently, but are said to have less chance (32.3%) than Millwall (38.8%) and Charton (32.4%), who are below them in the table.

The most likely of the chasing pack to make a surge up the table are 12th-placed Leicester City, who have been given a 31.8% chance of finishing in the top six and are more likely than Bristol City (28.9%), Derby (22.9%) and Birmingham (19.9%).

Last season's beaten play-off finalists Sheffield United have just a 1.8% chance of recovering their season to make the play-offs again, while relegated Premier League side Southampton (12.5%) aren't likely to either... if you trust the supercomputer!

Who is going down?

Image source, Rex Features

It's probably not hard to work out who is most likely to finish bottom and be relegated to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction, which has left them 17 points adrift of safety on -4 points, means they're pretty much nailed on to finish bottom (84.8%) - and failing that, are almost certain to go down (98.2%).

Second from bottom Norwich are the next most likely candidates to fall through the trap door (58.5%) but Sheffield United, who currently occupy the final relegation spot, have just a 22.4% chance of going down and are considered more likely to stay up than Oxford (37.8%) and Portsmouth (31.3%).

The Steel City derby returns on Sunday (12:00 GMT) with both team looking towards safety from the bottom three.

Sheffield Wednesday could get closer to being out of negative numbers following their 12 point deduction, a win taking them to -1 as well as providing yet another boost to morale around Hillsborough.

Though victory for the Blades could see them level on points with 21st placed Oxford United should the U's lose their match against Middlesbrough, leaving them with a chance to strike next time around.

• This will be the 134th Steel City derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United – in the previous 133, the Owls have won 42, while the Blades have won 48 with the other 43 games ending as draws.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last six league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W3 D3), keeping a clean sheet in each of their last five against their rivals.

• Including injury time, the two teams to have spent the fewest time winning in Championship matches this season are Sheffield United (192 mins) and Sheffield Wednesday (219 mins), while the Owls have spent the most amount of time losing in games this season in the second tier (801 mins).

• Sheffield United have just 10 points in 15 Championship games this season (W3 D1 L11), 23 fewer than they had at this stage in 2024-25 (33). It is the biggest drop of points after 15 games in consecutive English second tier seasons by any team in history.

• Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has created the joint most chances in the Championship this season (33), while he's made the most successful crosses (34) and played the most passes into the opposition box (150) of any player in the competition