Sheffield Wednesday vs Luton: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Football Red Button
Watch live on Sky Sports Football Red Button and the Sky Sports app from 7.40pm on Tuesday; kick-off is at 7.45pm
Monday 19 August 2019 18:07, UK
Sheffield Wednesday face Luton in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday evening, live on Sky Sports.
Coverage gets underway live on Sky Sports Football Red Button from 7.40pm, while kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Team news
Barry Bannan is hoping to return to Sheffield Wednesday's starting line-up for the home game against Luton. The Owls midfielder came through the second half unscathed in Saturday's defeat at Millwall after missing the recent home win against Barnsley.
Caretaker boss Lee Bullen has no new injury worries, but has plenty of options with the likes of Massimo Luongo, Fernando Forestieri, Jordan Rhodes and Moses Odubajo pushing for starts. Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood and defender Dominic Iorfa both returned from suspension at Millwall and are expected to continue.
Luton manager Graeme Jones is expected to choose from an unchanged squad after Saturday's home defeat to West Brom. Jones must decide whether to retain Harry Cornick and Callum McManaman in his starting XI after replacing them with Kazenga LuaLua and Izzy Brown early in the second half at the weekend.
LuaLua and Brown are both hoping to make their first league starts of the season, while midfielder George Moncur is in contention for a recall. On-loan Manchester City winger Luke Bolton will be assessed after sustaining a calf injury in the recent Carabao Cup win against Ipswich.
The managers
Sheffield Wednesday caretaker boss Lee Bullen: "We will get a positive reaction from the boys on Tuesday and I fully believe that. The best thing about this league is you get an opportunity very quickly to get back on the pitch and put things right again when you get knocked down. We are looking forward to getting the Millwall game out of our system.
"We had two tough games against them in the cup so we are aware of their strengths. We are at Hillsborough and, if we keep playing with the tempo and football we have shown, I think we are capable of getting the three points. They will be a tough nut to crack. They have come up with a lot of confidence from a promotion season."
Graeme Jones: "We understand that it's a period we're going through and we use it to get better, we keep growing and we've grown every single game. But we've got to keep on that line and I expect us to do so."
"Not once have I talked about budgets and there's a huge difference and there was a one-goal difference in the game [against West Brom]. I've got to praise the players for having the courage for example to play three against two in our own box, a newly-promoted team at home. As long as we keep doing that going forward, this style of play will take us a lot further than different styles."
Recent form
With Bury's financial struggles forcing the suspension of the scheduled Carabao Cup first round meeting, there has been little distraction for the Owls, who have focused full attention on the league as a result. The club haven't threatened to finish in the top six for a good few seasons now, but though they lost 1-0 to Millwall at the weekend, beating Reading 3-1 and Barnsley 2-0 has provided renewed hope for fans.
Luton sprung a surprise when they held Jonathan Woodgate's Middlesbrough to a 3-3 draw on opening night and they've raised a few eyebrows in the weeks since, testing the mettle of big guns Cardiff and West Brom, despite falling to 2-1 defeats in both. A 3-1 win over Ipswich in the League Cup has been their solitary success.
Talking point - Is Bullen the man for Wednesday?
Despite their lack of a permanent manager, Sheffield Wednesday are faring pretty well in the Championship and already flirting with the top six, albeit at too premature a point in the season to mean an awful lot. Lee Bullen, who played for the club between 2004 and 2008, is the man in caretaker charge of the Hillsborough club - his third spell in the role in just under two years.
But is it time for him to be given the job on a permanent basis? The 48-year-old has overseen the aforementioned wins over Reading and Barnsley, while his side lost 1-0 to Millwall at the weekend, despite having 21 shots to the Lions' three and finishing the game with almost 70 per cent possession. Granted, goals win games, but with five wins, three draws and three defeats during his temporary spells, it could be time for chairman Dejphon Chansiri to take the plunge.
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Sheffield Wednesday and Luton most recently met in the FA Cup third round last season, with the Owls winning 1-0 at Kenilworth Road in a replay.
This is the first league meeting between Sheffield Wednesday and Luton since 2006-07 - the Hatters are unbeaten in eight league meetings (W4 D4 L0) since losing 2-3 in a top-flight match in February 1992.
Each of both Sheffield Wednesday's and Luton's five league goals this season have come from different players, the highest number of different goalscorers for a side in the competition so far (alongside Preston).
Luton have already lost five points from winning positions so far this season, going ahead against both Middlesbrough (drew) and West Brom (lost) - only Hull (also five) have lost as many points in the Championship this campaign.
Sheffield Wednesday have only lost two of their last 21 league games played at home on a Tuesday (P21 W12 D7 L2), losing 1-2 both times to Ipswich in March 2018 and Brentford in February 2017.
Only Charlton (26.9 per cent) can boast a higher shot conversion rate in the Championship so far this season than Luton Town, who have scored five goals from their 28 attempts (17.9 per cent).
Prutton's prediction
David Prutton predicts: 1-1 (11/2)
