Xisco Munoz’s side welcome the Tractor Boys to Hillsborough this weekend in search of that elusive first Championship win of the season. Sheffield Wednesday host fellow newly-promoted side Ipswich Town this weekend in search of their first league win of the season.
Last season, the two battled for automatic promotion from League One. The Suffolk side would eventually win that battle before Wednesday joined them after winning the play-offs.
In a team news update ahead of Saturday’s match, Tractor Boys’ chief Kieran McKenna admits a few players are in doubt. Goalkeeper Christian Walton (foot), defender Janoi Donacien (groin), and midfielder Wes Burns (hamstring) are all doubtful for the game, while former Wednesday youth attacker George Hirst is also pushing against time to be fit to face his old side.
McKenna told in-house club media station TownTV two days before the trip to S6: “Janoi is still working his way through his rehab but isn’t ready yet.” He’ll be gone for at least another week.
“Wes is doing well, and we’ll see how he is tomorrow (Friday, in practice).” It was appropriate for him to return, and we applaud everyone’s rational decision. There’s no serious (hamstring) rip or anything like that, so he’s been resting for a few days and we’ll see how he feels when he returns to training tomorrow.
“Christian was back outside on the grass today with boots and gloves on, which was encouraging. He’s already begun working with Rene and will hopefully reintegrate with the group within the next week or two, so he’s making good progress.”
“We had a really good block of training and got some really important work in, while also getting some minutes in a lot of the players’ legs in a friendly,” McKenna continued. Throughout the week, players have returned from international assignment. That means a quick turnaround once the entire group is together, which we will have to adjust to but also hope to become accustomed to. Everyone is looking forward to the upcoming games.”
Ipswich head into the game knowing they can go top if they outperform Preston and Leicester over the weekend.