Sheffield Wednesday enter the March international break on the back of a heavy defeat.
Sheffield Wednesday lost 6-0 away at Ipswich Town last weekend, handing the club their biggest defeat under Danny Rohl.
The Owls have now lost their last two following a run of four-straight wins in the Championship.
The gap to safety remains just one point and Wednesday appear to have a more favourable run-in than a lot of the teams around them, with Swansea City visiting Hillsborough after the break.
But for the visit of the Swans, Rohl could be without key midfielders Ian Poveda and Barry Bannan.
Sheffield Wednesday handed Barry Bannan and Ian Poveda injury blows
After the game vs Ipswich, it was revealed that Bannan and Poveda are carrying knocks, with the severity of either player’s injury unknown.
It’ll open up two massive holes in the Sheffield Wednesday XI if both players are sidelined for a significant amount of time, especially in the midfield department.
And with midfielders thin on the ground, it’ll be a huge concern to Rohl.
Who can fill the midfield void
In terms of central midfielders, Rohl will be relying even more so on Will Vaulks to pull the strings and keep opposition midfielders from creating playing in the middle third.
There’s also Jeff Hendrick who’s been in the doldrums all year, with defenders Di’Shon Bernard and Liam Palmer options to deploy in the middle, though both would arguably be too similar to Vaulks.
Momo Diaby is the most logical name to come into the XI in place of Bannan in midfield, as he did against Ipswich Town.
But the Frenchman has been a huge let down under Rohl so far.
Momo Diaby’s season so far at Sheffield Wednesday
Diaby, 27, is currently on loan from Portguese outfit Portimonense.
He’s now featured eight times in the Championship but he arguably hasn’t played half as good as he did on his debut against Preston way back in August.
Diaby started in the midfield and dictated play with his tall stature and close control making him a nightmare for opposition players to deal with.
Hid debut ended prematurely through injury and Diaby wouldn’t be seen again until the very start of this year.
There was a lot of hype around his return to action, with Sheffield Wednesday fans remembering his brief debut fondly. But in 10 total appearances since, the Frenchman has failed to live up to the hype.
Diaby has started four times under Rohl. He’s certainly been given enough chances to impress, but others around him continue to flourish and improve under Rohl, Diaby seems to have gone backwards.
It looks like he’s lacking confidence and that could well be to do with his lengthy injury lay-off; he played with confidence and flair in that debut vs Preston, looking like a midfielder who could beat players with ease and pick out a pass.
Now though, Diaby barely looks like he can find his footing in the midfield, let alone dictate play.
So for Rohl, not having Bannan in the side would be a huge concern. But if Diaby can recapture that early form for the Owls, it would certainly soften the blow of not having Bannan in the XI.
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