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Championship
Aug 16, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
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Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County

Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Derby, who both won their opening matches of the season.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to improve their already impressive start to the season this weekend when they host Derby County at Hillsborough on Saturday.

The Owls produced something of a surprise result in their opening match of the campaign last weekend, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 at the Amex Stadium in what was Sami Hyypia's first game in charge of the Seagulls.

Things don't get any easier for Stuart Gray's side as they take on a Derby side tipped for automatic promotion next, but he will have taken huge confidence from how his side have started the 2014-15 campaign.

Wednesday made it two wins from two on Tuesday with a commanding victory over Notts County in the League Cup, keeping a second clean sheet in the process.

For a team that made such a poor start last season, amassing a decent number of points in the early stages this time around could enable them to push on and challenge for a top-half finish.

Gray has moved to add further firepower to his front line as well, signing Stevie May from St Johnstone, and the new boy could feature this weekend having missed the Notts County clash.

One player who will not be involved is Dejan Kelhar, however, after the new signing was ruled out for most of the season with a knee injury.

Derby have also made a promising start to the season as they look to get over the heartbreak of having missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the dying stages of the playoff final last term.

They were forced to wait for the winner against newly-promoted Rotherham United in their opening match of the campaign, but it duly arrived with eight minutes remaining courtesy of Jeff Hendrick.

It may not have been the most convincing of victories for a team that is expected to be challenging at the top of the table, but an early three points on the board will certainly please manager Steve McClaren.

The boss wasn't happy with his side in midweek, however, despite progressing into the second round of the League Cup with a 2-0 win over Carlisle United.

The Rams squandered a number of good chances throughout the match before finally sealing the victory in the 93rd minute through Chris Martin.

George Thorne remains absent with a knee injury this weekend, while Jamie Ward and Leon Best are both pushing for starts, but McClaren could opt to name an unchanged side.

Recent form

Sheff Weds: WDLDWW

Derby: WLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Sheff Weds: Westwood; Palmer, Lees, Loovens, Mattock; Maguire, Coke, Hutchinson, Maghoma; Lee; May

Derby: Grant; Christie, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Bryson, Hughes, Hendrick; Dawkins, Martin, Russell

Sports Mole says: 1-2


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Jeff Hendrick of Derby in action during the Sky Bet Championship Playoff Final match between Derby County and Queens Park Rangers at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2014
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CPlymouth ArgylePlymouth463187824735101
3Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds462812681374496
4Barnsley462681280473386
5Bolton WanderersBolton4623121162362681
6Peterborough UnitedPeterborough462451775542177
7Derby CountyDerby4621131267462176
8Portsmouth4617191061501170
9Wycombe WanderersWycombe46209175951869
10Charlton AthleticCharlton461614167066462
11Lincoln CityLincoln461420124747062
12Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury46178215261-959
13Fleetwood TownFleetwood461416165351258
14Exeter CityExeter461511206468-456
15Burton Albion461511205779-2256
16Cheltenham TownCheltenham461412204561-1654
17Bristol Rovers461411215873-1553
18Port Vale461310234871-2349
19Oxford UnitedOxford Utd461114214956-747
20Cambridge UnitedCambridge46137264168-2746
RMK Dons461112234466-2245
RMorecambe461014224778-3144
RAccrington StanleyAccrington461111244077-3744
RForest Green RoversForest Green4669313189-5827

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