Xisco Munoz welcomes the League Two outfit to Hillsborough in the first round of the Carabao Cup as he looks for his first competitive win as Sheffield Wednesday
boss.
With regards what team he chooses, it’s likely he could shuffle his pack against Dave Challinor’s side. When asked by Yorkshire Live if changes were likely, the
Spaniard said: “Yes, we’ll try to give our best XI because it’s important for everybody to get games.
“If we want to have a competitive squad then we need to play more and more games.”
In goal, we can see new arrival Devis Vasquez being handed a debut run-out. The Colombian arrived on a season-long over the weekend from AC Milan and has
trained with his new teammates. Given his last competitive game was in Paraguay last November, then this fixture looks ideal for him to shake off any ring rust.
In defence we predict a brand new back four with a quartet of summer arrivals. We’d have Reece James at left-back with Pol Valentin handed a debut at right-
back. At centre-half this would be a good time to see Bambo Diaby and Di’Shon Bernard and where their fitness is at.
We’d stick with two of the three midfielders that began against Southampton, with Will Vaulks and Barry Bannan still getting used to their demands in this new
system. With George Byers we’d be inclined to introduce him from the bench given he wasn’t fit enough last Friday. Liam Palmer can operate in midfield, as we’ve
seen many times, and this game against a side two rungs lower on the football ladder would be as good a contest as any for him to continue to build back up his
match fitness.
We’d hand Anthony Musaba a full debut after his impressive cameo from the bench last week. Marvin Johnson was a surprise omission against Saints – not
even featuring on the nine-man bench – so deserves a shot here.
Up front Michael Smith was another who didn’t get game time against Russell Martin’s side amid the backdrop of links to Derby County. After a weekend that saw
plenty of words spoken, this could be Smith’s chance to silence all the rumours.
Predicted Owls XI: Vasquez, Valentin, Bernard, Diaby, James, Vaulks, Palmer, Bannan, Musaba, Smith, Johnson
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