Sheffield Wednesday

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen praised his side's "strong" performance despite the Owls suffering a first defeat in four Championship matches against promotion-chasing Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

Morgan Whittaker scored the only goal of the game for Boro in the 11th minute when he capitalised on an error from defender Gabriel Otegbayo and rounded goalkeeper Murphy Cooper to break the deadlock.

It means Wednesday's winless run in the league has now stretched to 38 games, as they prepare for a campaign in League One next season.

Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield: "We had a strong, strong performance today.

"We started the game well, we were organised, and we were strong on the ball. Gabby made a back-pass to Murphy... it happens.

"After that, there was a difficult period, but we closed the first-half in a good way. In the second-half, for the first ten minutes, they have the ball more or less the whole time, but then we changed formation.

"For the last 30 minutes, I thought we were very strong in how we hunted the 1-1, how we pressed and how we were on the ball, but of course the last cross and last pass. Otherwise, it was a strong performance."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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Middlesbrough will seek to end their Riverside hoodoo when basement-boys Sheffield Wednesday visit on Wednesday night (19:45 BST).

Boro have taken just three points from their past six home games to fall off the pace in the promotion race, sitting three points behind second-placed Ipswich, who have a game in hand, after Town's late leveller in a 2-2 draw at Portman Road on Sunday.

Millwall and Southampton have the chance to pull six and five points clear of fifth-placed Boro respectively with matches on Tuesday night while the Tractor Boys are also in action on Wednesday at Charlton.

The Owls have drawn their past three games, their joint longest unbeaten run of the campaign along with September, when they also picked up their only league win of a torrid campaign in an away game at Portsmouth.

• Following their 1-0 win in October, Middlesbrough are looking to complete the league double over Sheffield Wednesday for the first time since 2015-16, when they were last promoted to the Premier League.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past six league games against Middlesbrough (D2 L3), a 2-1 home win in April 2025.

• Middlesbrough are winless in their past six home league games (D3 L3), losing each of the previous two; they last lost three in a row in April 2022.

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost 15 of their 21 away games in the Championship this season (W1 D5); only in 1946-47 and 2020-21 have they suffered more away losses in a second tier campaign (both 16).

• No player has been involved in more home league goals for Middlesbrough this season than Hayden Hackney (8 – 3 goals, 5 assists); it's just one fewer than his previous three seasons in the competition combined (9 – 6 goals, 3 assists).

Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield after his side's 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic:

"I think it's the strongest offensive performance we've had this season, and most control on the ball.

"We knew before the game it would be a game with all the basic things in the Championship.

"There was a lot of long balls, a lot of direct play, there'll be a lot of set pieces and we have to match them today to get anything.

"They score from a long ball and then a second ball in the box and then they had one more chance from this but we also score from these phases in the game."

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

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I can imagine nobody wants to see football clubs exploit administration to gain an advantage.

It's quite hard to see how Sheffield Wednesday benefit from their current situation though, as the EFL stands firm on a 15-point deduction for next season.

Dejphon Chansiri created a nightmare Wednesday fans are desperate to wake up from. He was the owner when the club failed on multiple occasions to pay its players and staff on time.

Players departed to raise funds to get through the season. Others cancelled their contracts. The squad is now so depleted the club has won only one league game all season. Their 37-game winless run is the longest in Football League history.

In October the situation reached a point where administration or a winding-up petition were the two options. Chansiri put the club into administration and exited, leaving a mess.

Whoever buys this club isn't getting much for their money. In terms of infrastructure, Wednesday are stuck in the 20th century, let alone being fit for 2026.

You're buying a badge and a hefty bill. That's the reality. You're taking on a salvage job to try and keep alive a club with a passionate fan base and a history dating back to 1867.

Yet in order to take on this challenge, which is about as big as any in football, you have to first satisfy the club's creditors - the main one being Chansiri.

Failure to do so at a level determined by the EFL means further punishment, even though the man responsible for the situation is the one who stands to benefit the most.

There are other smaller creditors too, plus HMRC.

My understanding is the preferred bidder, the David Storch group, intend to make sure these creditors don't miss out.

The issue for potential investors is weighing up the large sum of money required to satisfy the regulations against the value of the club considering its current state.

It's understandable why the EFL wants to guard against administration being seen as a helpful route out of danger for clubs. Not every administration is the same though.

Fans are asking whether a 'one size fits all' approach to regulations is right.

For example, a club could go into administration while retaining a strong squad of players with a healthy infrastructure.

Then, once exiting administration, what's to stop that club flourishing having just rid themselves of an inconvenient debt, gaining a competitive advantage in the process?

Administration would be an easy bail-out, a quick fix, an immediate cure.

Wednesday need to rebuild a whole new squad and will have to do it under financial restrictions. That's on top of all of the work required at Hillsborough and the training ground.

This is a multi-year project requiring millions to be spent, with the errors of the Chansiri era impacting the fresh start before it even begins.

It at least begs the question whether the two situations warrant the same regulation.

You've got a former owner who has taken a club to the brink and the people trying to keep it alive face the prospect of starting on the back foot, purely for not fully compensating what the EFL says Chansiri is owed to avoid a points deduction.

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Charlton Athletic will aim to take a major step towards securing Championship survival when they visit already relegated Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Addicks are five points clear of the drop zone with four games remaining but are without a win in their past five matches (D2 L3).

After picking up just one point in 17 league games, the Owls have drawn their past two and are within four points of avoiding finishing the season on a minus total.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won their previous four home league games against Charlton, keeping a clean sheet each time. Only against Grimsby between 1950 and 1979 have they won five in a row without conceding.

• Following their 2-1 win in October, Charlton are looking to complete the league double over Sheffield Wednesday for the first time since 1953-54 in the top-flight.

• Sheffield Wednesday kept their first league clean sheet of 2026 last time out, holding leaders Coventry to a goalless draw. They last kept back-to-back clean sheets in the same Championship campaign in their final two games of 2023-24 (2).

• Charlton are unbeaten in their past six away games in the Championship (W2 D4), despite the Addicks averaging just 39% possession across those six matches.

• Sheffield Wednesday's Jamal Lowe has scored in both of his previous league games against Charlton, netting at The Valley in July 2020 (for Wigan) and in this season's reverse fixture for the Owls (October 2025).

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Sheffield Wednesday striker George Brown has suffered a setback during his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury and is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

Manager Henrik Pedersen confirmed, external Brown will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo further tests to determine an exact prognosis.

The 20-year-old has played seven league games for Wednesday this season, scoring twice, including in the Owls sole league win of the season at Portsmouth.

Brown moved up from Wednesday's under-21s earlier in the season before suffering an injury in December.

Last week he played 45 minutes, external in the under-21s 2-0 win at Wigan Athletic as he sought to make his way back to the first team, but now he will not feature until next season.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield after their 0-0 draw at Championship leaders Coventry City.

"Of course I'm very, very proud," he said.

"We knew it would be a very difficult game to play against the absolute best team in the league, Frank and his team have done a fantastic job here.

"The boys went on the pitch with a big belief and big discipline and how we defended was amazing.

"We want to win points, we want to win football games and this confidence and togetherness the players went on to the pitch with was strong.

"When we won the ball we had the courage not to only to kick the ball away but to try and play."