The Championship makes a welcome return on Friday after yet another soul destroying international break as Brighton take on Aston Villa. The EFL is now around a third of the way through the season and the leagues are really starting to take shape.
So which Championship sides are currently struggling and in desperate need of victory on Saturday to relieve pressure on player and more importantly, managers?
Sheffield Wednesday
With the amount of investment in the playing squad after the club’s disappointing play off final defeat to Hull last May, Owls fans would have been hoping for more of a challenge towards the top two in the league, or at least the top end of the play off places. Almen Abdi and Daniel Pudil were brought in from Watford for a combined fee of £5 million respectively while Steven Fletcher came in for free but undoubtedly with Premier League wages.
However, the Owl’s from has been patchy so far this season and they lie tenth in the league after a 2-1 home defeat to Ipswich Town just before the international break. For all their attacking talent, Wednesday have only managed to score 17 goals this season, only five teams in the league have a worse record.
They face Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday and they will look to rock the boat of the London club who are in decent form and grab an impressive away win.
Wolves
On the face of it, Wolves this season look alarmingly similar to the side that were relegated from the Championship in 2013. A squad full of new foreign recruits who look too lightweight and not technically proficient enough to compete in this very tough division. They parted with Walter Zenga and brought in experienced Scot Paul Lambert, a man who guided Norwich to promotion in 2011.
However, in Lambert’s first game, Wolves went down 3-2 at home to Derby, a result which unfortunately flattered his side. They looked abysmal defensively and it was only down to a couple of Derby mistakes that they were allowed to nick two goals.
Lambert’s side go away to Simon Grayson’s impressive Preston outfit and must hope for much better in order to avoid a potential mauling.
Wigan
Warren Joyce could not have got off to a worse start to his Latics managerial career, conceding a goal to Reading inside the first thirty seconds. They ended up failing to recover and succumbing to a dismal 3-0 defeat that left them in 22nd in the Championship.
Wigan are struggling upon their return to the Championship. Will Grigg’s goals have started to dry up and summer signings Nick Powell, Jordi Gomez and Nathan Byrne have failed to add an attacking threat to the side which was criticised under Gary Caldwell for being too overly defensive.
Wigan face a trip to fellow promoted club Barnsley on Saturday and will look to climb out of relegation zone against the side lying 13th in the league.
