Wednesday continue our automatic promotion challenge back in front of the Sky TV cameras when we travel to relegation-threatened Oxford tomorrow.
We go into the match back at the top of the table after last Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 home draw with Lincoln but five games without a win has put a big dent in our chances of taking one of those two automatic places at the end of the season.
The Owls sit on 80 points, ahead of Plymouth only on goal difference and the West Country side now have a game in hand on us.
Ipswich sit two points behind the Owls with fourth-placed Barnsley trailing us by a further three points, both of them also having a game in hand.
While we face Oxford tomorrow, Plymouth return to league action at struggling Morecambe, Ipswich entertain play-off chasing Wycombe and Barnsley are at Burton.
In terms of team selection, Darren Moore has to decide whether to recall Cameron Dawson in goal after replacement David Stockdale came under criticism from some fans for his performance against Lincoln.
Mallik Wilks will be pushing for a starting place after coming on as a second-half sub against the Imps, particularly with the Owls now in a position where anything but six points from the next two games – at Oxford and then at home to Accrington on Easter Monday – looks vital as the battle for automatic promotion moves into the final straight.
On the long-term injury front, Moore says Callum Paterson is probably closest to a return to first-team action, followed by Michael Ihiekwe. Both players are back in training and looking to step up their volume of work.
With regard to key absentees, George Byers and Josh Windass, the manager added “we don’t predict George for any time soon but we may see him before the end of the season” and added that Josh Windass is progressing but is not ready to be considered for a return.