Knowing they need two victories to stand a chance of a top-two finish in the League One table, Sheffield Wednesday will travel to New Meadow to take on Shrewsbury Town on Saturday in the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
The Owls trail second-placed Ipswich Town by four points with two matches to go, while their hosts sit 13th after a major dip in their own form.
Match preview
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At the back end of the League One season, Shrewsbury Town find themselves in a dismal run of form, after previously climbing as high as ninth with an eye-catching spell in the first few months of the new year, putting 26 points on the board in a 12-match span including six straight victories between mid-January and mid-February.
After notching up their eighth win of that run with a 3-1 beating of Morecambe on home turf in March, Steve Cotterill's side have been unable to continue their improvement and have since added just one more point to their tally in seven further outings, firstly suffering four straight defeats at the hands of Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic, Peterborough United and Barnsley as they conceded 13 goals and only scored once along the way.
The Shrews would then, at least, arrest that losing run with a 1-1 draw at home to Portsmouth earlier in April, having initially led through Rob Street until the 82nd minute, but they have again suffered back-to-back losses in their two games since, albeit as part of a particularly difficult run of fixtures in recent months.
A contest at home to league leaders Plymouth Argyle last Tuesday ended in a 2-1 defeat, as they again went ahead through Killian Phillips, only for Callum Wright to deny them a share of the spoils with a 95th-minute winner, before Cotterill's men were most recently beaten 1-0 away at fifth-placed Bolton Wanderers at the weekend as Josh Sheehan's goal on the hour mark made the difference between the sides.
Now with their top-half finish on the line after the mid-season resurgence, with Fleetwood town a point ahead in 12th spot having played a game more, Shrewsbury will look to turn their form around in their final three matches of the term, starting with what would be a major scalp in on Saturday.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, travel knowing that only a victory will suffice if they are to stand a chance of remaining in the fight for automatic promotion heading into the final day next week.
Sheffield Wednesday were the standout side in the top-two fight late last year and at the beginning of 2023, as they put together a 23-game unbeaten run between early October and mid-March to move to the summit of the division, with that streak producing 55 points, but they would quickly be caught up by Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town once again as that form took a sharp dip.
The unbeaten run was eventually ended by a 4-2 loss away at Barnsley, and after falling to a 1-0 defeat away at basement side Forest Green Rovers, the Owls were only able to pick up draws in each of the following three encounters against Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City and Oxford United, before making an important return to winning ways at home to Accrington Stanley.
Any resurgence from that three-point haul was halted by another disappointing defeat, as Darren Moore's side were beaten 3-2 away at Burton Albion with Mark Helm netting a brace for their hosts after John Brayford's opener, and while they do head into the weekend on the back of two straight wins, most recently beating Exeter City 2-1 on Saturday thanks to goals from Lee Gregory and Callum Paterson, strong runs from the top two have meant the South Yorkshire outfit have been unable to return to the automatic promotion spots.
After the top two both won their games in hand on Tuesday, the Owls now find themselves four points behind Ipswich with two games to go, meaning they will be confined to the playoffs if they fail to win either of their coming matches, or if the Tractor Boys and the Pilgrims each pick up a victory.
Team News
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Shrewsbury are dealing with several selection concerns at the back end of the season, with George Nurse, Daniel Udoh and Julien Da Costa confined to the treatment room, while centre-back Tom Flanagan is also a doubt after serving a suspension.
In the expected absence of Flanagan, Matthew Pennington, Chey Dunkley and Taylor Moore should line up in an unchanged back three, while Killian Phillips should again join Carl Winchester and Luke Leahy in the engine room.
Christian Saydee, who sits second behind Leahy in their scoring charts with seven goals in League One so far this season, was fit enough to come off the bench against Bolton last weekend, and if deemed ready, he will likely come in to lead the line alongside either Ryan Bowman or Rob Street.
Darren Moore could deploy an unchanged Sheffield Wednesday starting XI from their victory over Exeter, with midfielder George Byers and forwards Mallik Wilks and Josh Windass remaining out of action through injuries.
In the ongoing absence of Byers, Will Vaulks will join talismanic captain Barry Bannan in midfield, while forward Callum Paterson, Lee Gregory and Michael Smith were all deployed last time out and could form the attacking unit once again.
At the other end of the pitch, Aden Flint has been a key man since his January arrival from Stoke City, and he will continue to play in the middle of a back three alongside Dominic Iorfa and Jaden Brown.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Pennington, Dunkley, Moore; Bennett, Leahy, Winchester, Phillips, Shipley; Saydee, Street
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Iorfa, Flint, Brown; Palmer, Vaulks, Bannan, Johnson; Paterson; Gregory, Smith
We say: Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday have certainly lost a lot of the momentum which previously took them to top spot, but needing a win to keep their top-two hopes alive, and with their hosts having seemingly run out of steam in the final months of the season, we back the Owls to come out on top away from home.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
