Thursday 7 September 2017 17:42, UK
Sheffield Wednesday would have been hoping to push on after two seasons in the play-offs, but Carlos Carvalhal's side have made another underwhelming start to the season in the Sky Bet Championship.
But should they be doing better with the squad they have at their disposal? Ahead of their clash with Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football at 5.15pm, David Prutton has taken a closer look...
There's a lot of expectation on Sheffield Wednesday, but they haven't quite got going so far. Although it should be said that they are a point better off than at this stage in the last two seasons!
They would have been hoping to push on, though, and a poor start can be the difference between challenging for the top two and battling into the top six. You never want to be playing catch up and the Owls have looked more in danger of missing out on the play-offs in the last two seasons, rather than making a move towards the top two.
In some ways it feels like Carlos Carvalhal has too many options. There were more outs than ins in the summer, but it's still a big squad with a lot of players on a very similar level, especially up front. He's got a big job on to keep them all happy. You need depth in the Championship, but sometimes you can benefit from having a leaner squad.
They were an unknown quantity when they reached the play-off final in his first year in charge but they would have been disappointed not to go further last season, and now they need to kick on.
Up front he appears to have settled on Steven Fletcher and Gary Hooper in the last couple of games, but Jordan Rhodes didn't go to Hillsborough to sit on the bench and Fernando Forestieri - their star from a couple of years ago - hasn't replicated that form lately and doesn't seem to have a place in the team right now.
Sam Winnall headed to Derby on loan after a disappointing time since arriving from Barnsley, as Jacob Butterfield came in from the Rams. He's a good player but, again, I don't see how he really improves their starting XI. Winnall, ironically, may have been the one striker who offered them something a little bit different, but he clearly wanted to go somewhere and play.
And with all those strikers you need to give them good service, especially from out wide. George Boyd looked a good addition in the summer, but he's more of a workhorse than a creator, and it puts a lot of pressure on Adam Reach to deliver from the other side.
Ross Wallace is another who has been a big influence for them, but he's found himself in and out so far this season as well as Carvalhal looks to get the balance right.
They could change it and go three up top to try and get more of them in, but I can't see Fletcher, Hooper or Rhodes working out wide as they'd all prefer to be down the middle.
Nottingham Forest is a massive game for them and they'll want to get their first home win of the season after two 1-1 draws so far against Sunderland and QPR. It will be interesting to see the line-up that Carvalhal puts out at Hillsborough.
On paper it's a great Championship squad that should be challenging near the top, but right now it's less than the sum of its parts.
Don't miss the Sky Bet Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football from 5.15pm
