Preview: County v Owls

A new month, and Wednesdayites will be hoping for a new start as the Owls make the trip to Nottingham looking for a first win in six outings against Notts County.

The Owls failed to pick up a league win in September and, ironically, the only victory came with a 2-1 success against County in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The trip to Meadow Lane will be one of the toughest games of the season for Alan Irvine and his men but, with the backing of over 4,000 Owls in Nottingham, a positive result could help get Wednesday's stuttering season back on track.

Owls boss Alan Irvine told the official SWFC website:

'Notts County have been scoring goals and they do present a threat are up front.

'In Lee Hughes, they have a very good striker who has been playing well and they also have quality elsewhere.

'They are a good side going forward and that's been shown in the number of goals they have been scoring recently.'

Craig Short's men will go into the clash full of confidence following their victory at Peterborough United, one of the favourites for promotion this season, in midweek.

And the Magpies could be boosted with the return of lead striker Lee Hughes from a hip injury - no doubt the clash with Wednesday will be one the former Baggies man is looking forward to.

But the hosts will be without Ricky Ravenhill through suspension after the midfielder saw red at London Road on Tuesday night.

Graeme Lee is available for selection following his one-match ban, but Craig Westcarr is set to miss out through a hamstring injury and Ben Burgess (calf) and Stephen Hunt (hamstring) are both out injured.

The controversial striker is set to return to lead the line for County, who will be relying on his goals to enjoy a good season in League One this term. He'll certainly be one of the more tougher opponents for the Owls defence, making the clash between him and Darren Purse an interesting one to follow.

Wednesday could be boosted with the return of winger Jermaine Johnson at Meadow Lane.

The Jamaican has yet to feature this season after being sidelined for two months with a knee injury, but he's returned to full training and is in with a chance to make the squad for the trip to Meadow Lane.

At best Johnson will have to make do with a spot on the bench, but he could be saved for Wednesday's JPT clash against Chesterfield next week.

The only injury doubt for Alan Irvine is Tommy Spurr, who went off after half an hour during the 0-0 stalemate with Oldham on Tuesday following a clash of heads.

Spurr is expected to be fit and available this weekend, although Daniel Jones, who replaced Spurr in midweek, will be on standby to come in and replace him if not.

Irvine has no other injury or suspension concerns but could tinker with his squad as the Owls look for a first win since their JPT success against County in S6.

The Wednesday defence is going to be in for a tough time against the County attack, and a match-up of Purse and striker Lee Hughes is certainly going to be an interesting contest.

Form:

County: W-L-L-W-L

Wednesday: D-L-L-L-L

Head-to-Head:

County wins: 20

Wednesday wins: 29

Draws: 17

Last Time Out:

Wednesday 2-1 Notts County

Hillsborough, 01/09/10, JP Trophy

Wednesday's last victory in all competitions came the last time the two sides met in the JPT last month. James O'Connor scored a first-half brace to put the Owls through, although they were made to work hard for their win as Ben Davies pulled a goal back for the Magpies.

v Chesterfield (H, JPT) - 06/10/10

v Leyton Orient (H) - 09/10/10

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