Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. MK Dons - prediction, team news, lineups

Sheffield Wednesday will continue their mid-season resurgence when they host MK Dons on Tuesday evening.

The hosts moved to within touching distance of the playoff spots over the weekend and a victory will take them above MK Dons in fifth.

Match preview

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Racing to a three-goal lead after 22 minutes during Saturday's visit to Accrington Stanley, it had looked as if Wednesday would go on and record a comfortable victory.

Instead, Accrington struck twice without reply to leave the Sheffield-based side hanging on towards the end, where they were able to grind out a hard-fought win.

Moving above Oxford United and into seventh, Wednesday are now within two points of sixth-placed Sunderland in the final playoff spot.

Ending a run of five consecutive draws in the league with the victory over Accrington, Wednesday's season looks to be back on track, with supporters hoping for an immediate return to the Championship.

Despite their stuttering form of late, the home side are unbeaten in their last seven League One matches, with just one loss in their previous 11.

Extending that run to one loss in 12 will be the target for Darren Moore, whose attention will now switch towards picking up their first home win since early October.

A 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers on October 9 was the last time that Wednesday picked up three points at Hillsborough, while simultaneously also being the Owls' last clean sheet in the league.

Looking to become the seventh consecutive side to net against Wednesday will be MK Dons, who have stabilised their ship after a period of inconsistency.

Three consecutive victories have seen MK Dons shoot up the League One table, having failed to register back-to-back wins throughout the entirety of October.

However, defeat may be around the corner for Liam Manning's side, as just three of their nine victories this season have come on the road.

Yet, a more than impressive record against Wednesday will inspire the 36-year-old coach, who was just 26-years-old the last time that the Sheffield club beat MK Dons.

Team News

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Scoring goals has often not been the problem for Wednesday, as demonstrated by their trio of strikes last time out.

Capable of scoring goals from all across the pitch, defender Chey Dunkley was among the scorers in a fruitful afternoon against Accrington.

However, their exploits in Lancashire were made all the more impressive due to the absence of top scorer Lee Gregory, who has netted six times this season.

The striker may feature off the bench against MK Dons, yet he is unlikely to start the match at Hillsborough.

Similarly, MK Dons have enjoyed their time in front of goal this season, with no side in the division having scored more goals than them at this stage.

Scott Twine leads the scoring charts for the visitors with eight goals for the campaign, while Max Watters was the only man on target in their recent 1-0 win over Burton.

At the other end of the pitch, Andy Fisher has started all of their league games bar one this season and the shot-stopper will be eyeing up his first back-to-back clean sheets of the campaign.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Brennan, Dunkley, Palmer; Hunt, Dele-Bashiru, Luongo, Corbeanu, Bannan; Paterson, Kamberi

MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Lewington, O'Hora, Baldwin; Kioso, Kasumu, McEachran, Harvie; O'Riley, Watters, Twine

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 MK Dons

It has not quite been the season that was expected from Wednesday after dropping down from the Championship, yet the Owls remain in the mix heading towards the new year.

A run of good results could see them catapult up the table, starting with a triumph at home to MK Dons this week.

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