Sheffield Wednesday are next on the menu for Paul Warne’s Rotherham United, as the Millers travel to Hillsborough for this Sky Bet Championship fixture.
We look at who we’ll be facing in our opposition analysis…
In the Dugout
Jos Luhukay will be the man in the dugout for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. The 55-year old former midfielder began his playing career with his hometown club VVV-Venlo. He has also represented SVV Schiedam, RKC Waalwijk, KFC Uerdingen and SV Straelen.
He became manager at SV Straelen in 1998, also spending time in the dugout with the likes of KFC Uerdingen before joining 1.FC Köln as an assistant for three years. He went to SC Paderborn 07 in 2005 before joining Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2007. He won his first major silverware in 2007 winning his first 2. Bundesliga title. He also guided FC Augsburg to promotion to the Bundesliga after finishing runners-up and he won his second 2. Bundesliga title with Hertha BSC in 2013. He also managed Stuttgart for five games in 2016 before resigning. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in January 2018 to become the first Dutch manager and second non-British manager of the club.
Stats
Sheffield Wednesday sit in 16th placed in the Championship, three points ahead of the Millers. The Owls have had trouble defensively this season, conceding 36 goals in 20 league games, but they recently showed some defensive mettle with a notable goalless draw with rivals Sheffield United.
In their last outing, the Owls lost 4-2 away at Blackburn Rovers. A Danny Graham hat-trick and a strike from Bradley Dack sealed all three points for the hosts, as goals from Lucas João and Barry Bannan weren’t enough for the Owls.
Previous Meetings
This is the 37th meeting between these sides, with the first way back in January 1934 in the FA Cup. Rotherham have won 12 of these fixtures while Sheffield Wednesday have won 19, with five draws. The Millers have only won once in their last five matches against the Owls, with the other four going the way of the team from S6.
The Millers’ last victory over the Owls came in March 2016 as Matt Derbyshire’s 21st minute strike sealed all three points for the Millers at Hillsborough.
Ones to Watch
Our Ones to Watch start with former England U18 and U19 goalkeeper Cameron Dawson. The Sheffield Wednesday academy graduate has had productive loan spells at Plymouth Argyle, Alfreton Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Chesterfield. Earlier this season, he saved a penalty to keep a clean sheet in the Sheffield derby to earn his side a point.
In defence, Chelsea loanee Michael Hector is another strong performer. The Jamaican international is on loan from Chelsea, whilst he played against the Millers earlier in his career at Barnet where he won their Young Player of the Year in 2012. He has also starred on loan for the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt, were he guided them to the final of the DFB-Pokal Cup, and Hull City last season were he made 38 appearances for the Tigers and scored once.
In attack, Portuguese international Lucas João has the ability to add spark to the Owls. The 25-year old has been at Wednesday since 2015 and scored last time out against Blackburn to take him joint top scorer this season with six. The other top scorer is fellow midfielder Adam Reach, with the former Middlesbrough youth and England U20 international making over 100 appearances for the Owls.
Steven Fletcher has the experience at this level. He has represented Scotland internationally over thirty times and has had productive spells at Hibernian, Burnley, Wolves, Sunderland and Marseille before joining Wednesday in 2016.