Huddersfield Town vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance22,754.
Watch live on Sky Sports Football on Sunday; kick-off midday
Sunday 15 September 2019 11:24, UK
Huddersfield face Sheffield Wednesday in the Sky Bet Championship on Sunday. Coverage gets underway live on Sky Sports Football from 11.30am, while kick-off is at midday.
Danny Cowley will steer Huddersfield into their first match under his leadership as they face Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on Sunday. Cowley, who was appointed after Huddersfield parted ways with former manager Jan Siewert, left his role at Lincoln to join the club.
The Terriers boss has confirmed that he has a full squad at his disposal ahead of the clash, with no injury concerns amongst the team. Yet to claim a win and in possession of just one point, Cowley could ring the changes as he attempts to change Huddersfield's fortunes.
Also under new leadership are rivals Wednesday, who travel to the Kirklees Stadium for their first game under new boss Garry Monk. Headed up by caretaker manager Lee Bullen since the controversial departure of Steve Bruce, Wednesday sit mid-table having played six matches.
Defensive stalwart Tom Lees could miss Monk's first fixture in charge, having incurred a hamstring injury while warming up for the Owls' previous game against QPR. Joe Wildsmith remains sidelined with a long-term injury, while Fernando Forestieri starts his six-match suspension on racism charges and will therefore be unavailable.
Huddersfield have lost their last five fixtures in all competitions and have scored just three goals during a period that has left them second-bottom of the table on goal difference. Karlan Grant scored the opener as Luton fought back to win 2-1 last time out, seven days after Reading were 2-0 victors at the John Smith's Stadium.
Caretaker Wednesday boss Lee Bullen had steered the club to 11th after six games, overseeing league wins over Luton, Barnsley and Reading, though QPR were victorious at Hillsborough before the international break.
Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley: "This is the early phase for us, in business I think they talk about 30-60-90-day stages, in football you don't always get as long, so maybe we're talking 15, 30 and 45-days, but certainly in this initial process we need to audit the Club and see what's good. No doubt there's some really good processes already in place and we'll run with those, we might even run with the average ones because of the timeframe we're working within.
"Certainly, we'll look at the areas we can effect and where we can get some quick wins and where we think we can have the most influence. We'll look to implement those slowly but surely, and we'll only make change for significant gains. We'll be looking to see where we can get those wins."
Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk: There's not been a long time to prepare for this game. I'm a new manager coming in and I think the key is not to over-bear the players with too much stuff that I want to do, but enough that they can take the concepts we're going to try and work on and put them on the pitch.
"Games come thick and fast and we're going to be going into a busy period, so we'll try and work in between that to try to make that clearer and clearer. It's quite a unique situation this weekend but I've really enjoyed it."
It was quite the U-turn from Danny Cowley and his brother Nicky. Just over a week after turning down the opportunity to manage Huddersfield, he will be sat in the dugout at the John Smith's Stadium on Sunday as his new side takes on Sheffield Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Football.
Cowley, along with his brother and assistant Nicky, have taken the leap from Lincoln - who are near the top of League One - to Huddersfield, currently with just one league win in 2019 and occupying 23rd spot in the Championship.
Cowley could have heeded recent lessons from lower-league managers who have struggled when making the step up to the Championship. Paul Hurst and Nathan Jones are two who have recently laboured after leaving upwardly-mobile League One clubs, but the 40-year-old believes he has what it takes to turn the situation around at Huddersfield. But it won't be a quick fix.
"It is a mentality thing," he said. "We have spoken to a lot of people around the club who think they are one win from changing that, but I'm not so sure."
In all competitions, Huddersfield are winless in nine matches against Sheffield Wednesday (W0 D4 L5).
Sheffield Wednesday haven't conceded a single goal in any of their last seven games at the John Smith's Stadium against Huddersfield (W4 D3 L0).
Huddersfield have failed to score more than once in each of their last 29 home games in all competitions - if they fail to do so against Sheffield Wednesday, it would be a record number of consecutive games by a Football League Club in all competitions, with Blackpool also going 29 games between December 2013 and February 2015.
Sheffield Wednesday haven't lost three consecutive away league matches since October 2017.
Since their 1-0 win over Wolves at the John Smith's Stadium in February, Huddersfield haven't led for a single minute in any of their seven home league matches (W0 D1 L6).
Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher hasn't scored in three consecutive league matches since a run of five between May and September 2012 for Wolves and Sunderland.
Two new managers at the John Smith's Stadium on Sunday. What a moment this will be for Danny Cowley and his brother Nicky, managing a side that were in the Premier League last season, having been PE teachers and part-time managers just a few years ago.
In the opposite dugout will be Garry Monk, who, apart from perhaps his time at Middlesbrough, has left every club he has been at in a better position than where he found it. I think he will be a very good fit at Sheffield Wednesday and he will start with a win. Just!
David Prutton predicts: 1-2 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
