By Nicholas Rigg
September 26 2005

Wednesday look to pull out of the relegation zone, and build on the point gained at Luton Town on Friday night. Iain Dowie's men look to re-kindle some of the form that saw them win four on the bounce, but have to do so without Andy Johnson. Check out all the latest team news and injury news HERE!

Crystal Palace V Wednesday

Date: Tuesday 28th September

Venue: Selhurst Park, London

Next up for Wednesday is another difficult away tie against Championship new-boys Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening.

The Owls will be travelling to Selhurst Park on the back of a promising 2-2 draw at high-flying Luton Town on Friday night, and with an extra days preperation in the bag.

The last time the two teams met was during the 2002-03 season when Wednesday will have been quite happy with a 0-0 draw in the capital as they tried to avoid the drop.

A repeat of that scoreline this time around will surely be a happy one for Paul Sturrock as Wednesday try and climb out of the relegation zone.

The good news for Wednesday is that star striker Andy Johnson will miss the game due to injury, leaving Clinton Morrison as a probable lone striker for Palace, as Iain Dowie opted for the 4-5-1 formation against Preston at the weekend.

Aki Riihilahti is also a doubt for the Eagles, after being forced off with a back injury during the weekend draw with PNE. New signing Marco Reich could make his full debut after signing from Derby County. Fitz Hall may also be fit for the game after missing the last match picking up a knock in training.

JP McGovern is facing a late fitness test for Wednesday, but boss Paul Sturrock may opt to rest him in preperation for the visit of Coventry City to Hillsborough at the weekend.

Palace seem to be under-achieving at the moment as they lie in 15th place in the Championship, and have suffered up and down results in recent games.

They got off to a bad start to the season with consecutive defeats against Luton Town and Wolves, but seemed to turn their season around with a draw against Norwich City and four consecutive wins. Since then, they've suffered two defeats, had a victory against Coventry, and a draw against PNE at the weekend.

Palace's up and down season should mean that Owls boss Sturrock will take the same attacking approach that he did against Luton, and see Selhurst Park as a place that the squad shouldn't fear.

Sturrock is unlikely to counter Dowie's 4-5-1 approach and should stick with David Graham and Lee Peacock upfront, should no transfer activity occur in between. He may also have the nice selection problem of Graham Coughlans return from injury. Graeme Lee is the player likely to be dropped should Coughlan return.

Goalkeeper David Lucas will need to be on his toes to keep Palace out, after they mustled together 16 shots on goal against Preston on Saturday, only to see a sole Clinton Morrison effort in injury time hit the back of the net.

Palace's five accross the midfield will mean Sturrock may recall Craig Rocastle in to a defensive midfield role, leaving captain Glenn Whelen to break forward when he can. Chris Brunt and Chris Eagles will also have to put their attacking minds to one side for the night and help out in defending role.

The confidence boost from the Luton match will give the Owls the lift they need ahead of this tough encounter with Iain Dowie's side, and will hopefully be enough to lift the Owls out of the bottom three.

 

My Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Wednesday

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Last Crystal Palace Line-Up: Kiraly, Ward, Butterfield, Boyce, Soares, McAnuff, Watson, Riihilahti, Hughes, Borrowdale, Morrison. Subs: Hudson, Freedman, Reich, Andrews, Speroni.

Last Wednesday Line-Up: Lucas, Wood, Lee, Hills, Simek, Whelen, O'Brien, Brunt, Eagles, Peacock, Graham. Subs: McGovern, Rocastle, Bullen, Ross, Corr.