Owls dumped out of the cup..

We shouldn’t be surprised by the result or the performance at the weekend against Middlesbrough in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Boro beat us on both occasions last season on their way to securing promotion to the Premier League, running out comfortable winners with a 3-1 win at Hillsborough and in the return fixture held onto a 1-0 lead for 89 minutes.

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Article by Lee Jenkins @2ndtouchtackle

Last season’s narrow loss at the Riverside came on the back of a decent display and at the time so many fans thought we deserved to have got something from the game. If we are honest we all saw this result coming based on recent league performances.

I wrote in detail last week about our recent run of poor performances despite still picking up points. This run couldn’t last and against Premier League opposition, who were playing with 10 men for most of the second half, we were found out.

We once again enjoyed good possession, especially in the first half, but we lacked quality in the final third. For any neutral watching in the first half there was no clear gulf in class between the two teams and we looked reasonably solid, which has been one of our plus points over the last month or so.

I’m sure Carlos at half time would have been happy but in the back of his mind he must have known Boro would improve in the second half and eventually that proved to be the case. The second half Wednesday display for me raises massive concerns as we embark on our promotion challenge.

We still lack a cutting edge going forward!! Set pieces looked our only avenue of getting on the score sheet and unfortunately, not for the first time this season, we didn’t have a plan B or alternative way of breaking Boro down.

I’m aware of the fact we still have Hooper to come back and we look a much better threat with him in the team. He is able to link up play exceptionally well with his back to goal and he provides a goal threat. How long will he be sidelined though this is the worry.

A fear amongst some of the Wednesday faithful is that Carlos seems to be unclear in his decision making around player substitutes and tactics. At times he brings in to question whether he know his best starting eleven?

With our important push for promotion we also have to consider if playing some of our key players was the right call. Risking injury to the likes of Bannan, Forestieri and Lees in a game which. if we had won, would only have brought more problems in the way of additional fixtures. A cup competition which for me ranks below our ambitions of gaining promotion this season.

The Owls are back in league action this weekend and our next three difficult games could have a real bearing on the remainder of our season. The run begins with a home fixture against fellow promotion contenders Huddersfield Town. A team which hasn’t lost in the league since the end of November and currently occupy 4th spot in the league will fancy their chances against us this weekend.

We then have back-to-back away fixtures and first visit top of the league Brighton at the Amex Stadium. A game played on a Friday night live on TV in front of a full house will really give us the opportunity to prove our promotion credentials.

We end January with a difficult trip to Bristol City. They were very unlucky to lose to us at Hillsborough earlier this season after Kieran Lee snatched an injury time winner to come from 0-2 down to win 3-2. On that day Tammy Abraham caused us all kinds of problems defensively and if we were to arrive there on the back of a couple of poor results we will have a difficult task on our hands.

Realistically we need to pick up 6pts from the remaining January fixtures if we are to stay in touch with the top 6. Derby and Barnsley continue to chase us and the teams above on current from could break away. Time for Carlos to work his magic!!!!!!!

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