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Sheffield Wednesday logo
Championship
Aug 30, 2014 at 12.15pm UK
 
Nottingham Forest logo

0-1

FT(HT: 0-1)
Lansbury (37')

Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Nottingham Forest

Sports Mole previews Saturday's early Championship kickoff as unbeaten Sheffield Wednesday host league leaders Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.

Two of the three remaining unbeaten sides in the Championship go head to head in Saturday's early kickoff as Sheffield Wednesday host Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.

It is the visitors who will go into the match as slight favourites having made a fine start to life under new manager Stuart Pearce, topping the table after four games.

Pearce is not the only one to have hit the ground running at the club, however, with a number of summer signings impressing in the early stages of their Forest careers.

Britt Assombalonga continued his brilliant start to the season with his fourth goal in his last three starts against Reading last weekend as Forest trounced the Royals 4-0 at the City Ground.

Michail Antonio also scored twice in that match against one of his old clubs, and he will be hoping to find the net again against another former employer this weekend.

Pearce's side maintained their momentum by booking their place in the third round of the League Cup on Tuesday, easing to a 2-0 win away to Huddersfield Town courtesy of two goals in the final 20 minutes.

As the top scorers in the early Championship table they will be confident of once more finding the net and, with four clean sheets in all competitions already this season, Pearce appears to have found a recipe for success.

The visitors have no new injury concerns to worry about, although Dexter Blackstock and Kelvin Wilson remain sidelined.

Wednesday currently sit two points behind Saturday's opponents, but they will be no less pleased with their start to the campaign.

The Owls struggled at the beginning of last term but, in their first full season under Stuart Gray, they have had no such trouble this time around.

Two victories and two draws have given them a very respectable eight points from their opening four matches, and their last league outing saw them claim an impressive 3-2 win at Middlesbrough - their first ever victory at the Riverside.

Gray may be slightly concerned that they almost let a three-goal lead slip, conceding two penalties to hand Boro a lifeline, but there were more positives than negatives to take from the result.

Near the top of that list of positives will be Stevie May's goal as the summer recruit opened his account for the club. He was ably assisted by Atdhe Nuhiu, who also scored twice himself to continue his own fine start to the season.

The Austrian striker made it four for the campaign in midweek as the Owls dumped Premier League side Burnley out of the League Cup, making it six matches unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Wednesday have since been handed a third-round match against holders Manchester City, but that is unlikely to take the focus away from their league form just yet.

One concern for Gray will be that his side have not yet won at home in the league, drawing both of their matches, and their winless league run at Hillsborough stretches back to six games now.

However, Kieran Lee remains the hosts' only injury concern, so Wednesday could name an unchanged side to the one that beat Middlesbrough last weekend.

Recent form

Sheff Weds: WWDDWW

Nottm Forest: WWDWWW

Possible starting lineups

Sheff Weds: Westwood; Palmer, Lees, Loovens, Mattock; Maguire, Coke, Semedo, Maghoma; Nuhiu, May

Nottm Forest: Darlow; Hunt, Mancienne, Fox, Harding; Burke, Cohen, Reid, Antonio; Fryatt, Assombalonga

Sports Mole says: 1-1


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Watford's Italian forward Fernando Forestieri shoots to score a goal during the English FA Cup fourth round football match between Manchester City and Watford at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on January 25, 2014
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sunderland149322391430
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd149321871128
3Leeds UnitedLeeds147522291326
4Watford158162322125
5Burnley146621761124
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom14572148622
7Millwall146441712522
8Middlesbrough146351816221
9Swansea CitySwansea14545119219
10Blackburn RoversBlackburn145451616019
11Bristol City144731819-119
12Norwich CityNorwich144642320318
13Derby CountyDerby145361818018
14Stoke CityStoke145361718-118
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds145361724-718
16Oxford UnitedOxford Utd154561718-117
17Coventry CityCoventry144371819-115
18Hull City143651518-315
19Luton TownLuton144371621-515
20Preston North EndPreston143651420-615
21Cardiff CityCardiff144371320-715
22Plymouth ArgylePlymouth144371425-1115
23Queens Park RangersQPR141761223-1110
24Portsmouth141671327-149


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