Sheffield Wednesday

Image source, Rex Features

Josh Windass believes Sheffield Wednesday can succeed where others have failed in breaking down the doors of Burnley's Turf Moor fortress.

The Clarets have a well-publicised defensive record having not conceded in the league home or away since 21 December against Watford.

It is a run that has seen Scott Parker's men rack up 1,000 minutes without conceding and made them the meanest defence in Europe.

But Wednesday striker Windass believes all records must fall eventually and he reasoned that the Owls may have the firepower to break through when they visit Turf Moor on Friday night.

"I have full belief in this squad that we can go to what is a difficult venue and win," said Windass, who has scored 10 goals this season.

"We have to find areas to make es and create openings, it's not just Burnley's defensive record, they don't let teams have a lot of shots so we have to find a way around that.

"It's an unbelievable record, I don't seeing anything like it and it's testament to their manager, the defenders and the goalkeeper.

"But we are a team that scores goals so if there's anyone that can break that run, it's us."

Burnley will look to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Turf Moor on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

The Clarets are five points off the top two but could gain ground with Leeds United and Sheffield United playing each other on Monday evening.

The Owls, who have play-off ambitions of their own, are three points off the top six in ninth.

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past seven league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W4 D3), scoring at least one goal in each of those matches.

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost just one of their past nine away league games against Burnley (D4 L4), though that sole defeat did come on their last visit to Turf Moor in September 2015 (3-1).

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past 20 league games (W11 D9), the Clarets' longest run since a 22-match run between November 2022 and April 2023.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won seven of their past 12 away Championship matches (D1 L4). Since the start of October, only city rivals Sheffield United (8) have won more away games in the division than the Owls' seven.

• Burnley have kept 11 consecutive clean sheets in the Championship. In the entire history of the Football League since 1888, only one side has had a longer run in the top four tiers, with Manchester United keeping 14 in a row during the 2008-09 campaign.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Rex Features

Coventry's winning goal on Saturday was a huge error by goalkeeper James Beadle. However, I disagree with the online chatter that he should be dropped or that the Owls were wrong for re-loaning and starting him ahead of talented 19-year-old Pierce Charles.

Firstly on Charles, he is very highly-rated behind the scenes at Hillsborough.

I going on Wednesday's summer training camp in 2023 with several players commenting he was destined for big things. Some suggested he'd make an excellent outfield player, let alone a keeper.

He has impressed at international level for Northern Ireland, winning four caps before he even turns 20. His range of ing is impressive, with one particular delivery that set up a goal against Grimsby in the League Cup sticking in the memory.

However, this is no time for a rookie. He has yet to make a league start.

As we saw in the FA Cup against Coventry recently, Charles still has plenty to work on. The Sky Blues consistently tested his ability to deal with set pieces delivered into his range and he didn't look comfortable or commanding. He's 19 and learning.

Beadle might be young (he's only one year older than Charles) but he's far more experienced. He's approaching 100 league starts. He's been Wednesday's number one for over a year.

It's easy to focus on the error against Coventry but how many times has Beadle pulled off a brilliant save to secure a point or three for the Owls?

He's performed well enough, at least, to be given the opportunity to spend time training with England's senior team when he's been on Under-21 duty.

You aren't hampering Charles by not thrusting him into the thick of a play-off push at 19, or by putting immense pressure on him as a more-or-less unchallenged starter at the beginning of the campaign.

It's not a waste of money on a loan fee to have a quality keeper like Beadle, with league experience, as your number one.

Wednesday aren't just developing Beadle for Brighton. They're getting a top performer who, like most keepers, isn't flawless and makes the occasional gaffe. Danny Rohl clearly believes it was pivotal to have him back as first choice.

Any successful Championship campaign typically includes one or two smart young loan gs from the Premier League. In Beadle and Shea Charles, Wednesday have nailed it in a way they have failed to do in previous seasons.

You cannot just take the loan-fee money and use it on permanent deals for younger players, as some have suggested. That's not easy. It's a competitive market. Those players will need to be developed with no guarantee of immediate or long-term success.

In the meantime, do the Owls struggle in the second tier? Or do they want to kick on, as they have done this season?

Charles would've been better off having his own loan spell before being put in as the starter. He might not get that opportunity now.

Yet there's no reason to second guess bringing back Beadle after the Coventry error, or question the return of a loan player who has had a good season for the Owls.

Image source, Rex Features

Danny Rohl bemoaned his side's failure to convert an entertaining display into three Championship points against Coventry City.

Rohl's Sheffield Wednesday had the better of the game at Hillsborough but were undone by two sucker-punch goals from Sky Blues striker Ellis Simms.

Owls boss Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield: "It's hard to take. We dropped a minimum two points when I look to the whole game today.

"Even with a point you could be disappointed because we were on the front foot, created a lot of chances, entertained.

"But we know its not just about entertainment, it's about winning games, getting results and this is really hard to take because my players invested so much today.

"All the data - we were on the front foot, ball possession, chances, set-pieces, all the things. Sometimes football is horrible and today we got a small setback.

"We can speak about the 2-1 [goal] but also the 1-0. A topic this week and especially after Swansea I showed my players a lot of situations.

"It's about pressure on the ball, block the cross, man marking in the box. This is again and again the same topics.

"We were not shocked after the 1-0. We carried on like nothing happened.

"We created chances, everybody on the pitch tried everything but at the end we can say we played good football but the points went to Coventry. This is hard."

Hillsborough hosts a game with big play-off implications as Sheffield Wednesday welcome Coventry on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Owls lie 8th, two points outside the top six, but with the Sky Blues just one point, and two places behind them.

• After beating Coventry City 2-1 in October, Sheffield Wednesday are looking to win successive league games against the Sky Blues for the first time since October 2005.

• Coventry have won on two of their past four league trips to Sheffield Wednesday (L2), and could record successive wins for the first time since September 1988.

• Sheffield Wednesday are unbeaten in their past five home league games (W2 D3); they last enjoyed a longer unbeaten run at Hillsborough in the second tier in December 2019 (8 games).

• Coventry could win three successive away league games for the first time since January 2024, while they last recorded three consecutive league clean sheets on the road in March 2023.

• Coventry's Ellis Simms has been involved in three goals in his last two away league games (2 goals, 1 assist) and could score in three successive away Championship games for the first time.