Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Fleetwood Town - prediction, team news, lineups

The Owls sit second in England's third tier thanks to four consecutive league wins, while their opponents find themselves 17th and five points above the drop zone.

Match preview

In their bid to return to the Championship this season, Sheffield Wednesday find themselves in an eye-catching run of form, having now gone unbeaten in 14 League One matches since a narrow defeat away at league leaders Plymouth Argyle in October.

In that time, the Owls have added nine notches to their wins column and now head into the weekend on the back of four straight three-point hauls - their best run of the campaign thus far - and five consecutive wins in all competitions, firstly beating Saturday's opponents and Port Vale after Christmas to move within touching distance of the top two.

Darren Moore's side would then break into the automatic promotion spots as they kicked off the new year in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Cambridge United, as Josh Windass netted a hat-trick and Michael Smith scored a brace, before they hosted Premier League high-flyers Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round and pulled off an eye-catching 2-1 win courtesy of two more goals from Windass.

On a further high following that impressive result in South Yorkshire, the Owls faced another tough test away at Wycombe Wanderers last weekend as they set out to strengthen their position in second place, and after Will Vaulks's long-range effort put them ahead early in the Owls would stand strong to come out with a 1-0 win and three more points.

Now leading third-placed Ipswich Town by four points and only trailing Plymouth by three with a game in hand, after those sides played out a draw last time out, Sheffield Wednesday find themselves in a strong position in the fight for promotion with 20 matches to go, and they will look to give their hopes of a top-two finish another boost with what would be a fifth straight third-tier win at the weekend.

They welcome a Fleetwood Town side who have slightly improved their own position in a different fight in recent weeks, with the visitors now having a healthy lead over the relegation zone.

Following a commendable 1-1 draw away at Ipswich Town, Scott Brown's side sat on 23 points from their opening 20 outings, before putting an important victory on the board away at strugglers MK Dons thanks to Daniel Batty's 90th-minute winner, only to suffer defeats at the hands of the Owls and Barnsley in the next two matches.

Marvin Johnson's 73rd-minute goal would condemn the Cod Army to a loss in the previous meeting with Moore's side, but Fleetwood bounced back from the consecutive defeats in the new year with a 3-0 triumph away at Shrewsbury Town, as Admiral Muskwe and Promise Omochere found the net alongside a Chey Dunkley own goal.

They would then advance to the FA Cup fourth round with an impressive victory of their own, beating second-tier Queens Park Rangers 2-1 thanks to goals from Aristote Nsiala and Omochere, booking what will be a third meeting with Sheffield Wednesday in just over a month-long span as they travel to South Yorkshire again next weekend.

Now on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Oxford United last weekend, as they dropped to 17th place following Ciaron Brown's 90th-minute winner, and with their focus entirely on their league pursuits before next weekend's fourth-round tie in the same stadium, Fleetwood will aim to cause somewhat of an upset away at one of the third tier's form sides in their bid to move even further clear of the threat of relegation this term.

Sheffield Wednesday League One form:

D

D

W

W

W

W

Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions):

D

W

W

W

W

W

Fleetwood Town League One form:

D

W

L

L

W

L

Fleetwood Town form (all competitions):

W

L

L

W

W

L

Team News

Sheffield Wednesday are dealing with several injury issues, as defenders Ben Heneghan and Michael Ihiekwe remain out of action alongside key midfielder and captain Barry Bannan, while Reece James and George Byers were also forced off in the Wycombe contest and may not be deemed fit to start, leaving the Owls particularly light in those areas.

With centre-back Mark McGuinness having also returned to parent club Cardiff City, Dominic Iorfa, Akin Famewo and Liam Palmer should again line up in a back three with Marvin Johnson likely to come in on the left-hand side, while Tyreeq Bakinson and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru are fighting to join Will Vaulks in the engine room in Byers's expected absence.

Josh Windass will again play an important role going forward, having scored 11 goals in all competitions so far this season including five across the Cambridge and Newcastle victories, while Michael Smith will lead the line with seven league goals to his name since arriving from Rotherham United in the summer.

Scott Brown could make several changes to his Fleetwood side for the weekend's trip to Hillsborough, with winger Carlos Mendes Gomes hoping to return to the starting XI having hit a team-high tally of six goals so far this season including five in 19 League One appearances.

Experienced forward Joe Garner may be preferred over Admiral Muskwe at the top end of the pitch, while Gerard Garner is also in the fight to lead the line.

Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu will keep his place alongside Everton loanee Lewis Warrington at the base of midfield, after opening the scoring in the eventual defeat to Oxford last weekend, with Josh Vela again set to operate in a more advanced role in support of a lone striker.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Dawson; Palmer, Iorfa, Famewo; Hunt, Dele-Bashiru, Vaulks, Johnson; Windass; Smith, Gregory

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:

Lynch; Johnston, Nsiala, Earl, Andrew; Warrington, Sarpong-Wiredu; Mendes Gomes, Vela, Hayes; J Garner

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Fleetwood Town

Previews by email