Fans column: Derby is a potential banana skin for Sheffield Wednesday

Sam HutchinsonSam Hutchinson
Sam Hutchinson
The last time I asked Sheffield Wednesday to lay down a marker against an out of form team, we lost 2-1 to Ipswich Town and gave them their first away win of the season.

So I’m not going to jinx it this time by being too overconfident about our meeting with the worst team in the Championship, Rotherham United. It is a local derby after all.

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Without sounding too overconfident, our performances have improved even if we haven’t always collected maximum points. Against Reading they had more possession but we had more shots.

Against Barnsley it was the opposite but crucially we took our chances. It could have been different if Hutch had seen red.

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Sam Hutchinson remains a Titan of a man after the Barnsley game with his defensive prowess, a passionate performance and a goal to his name. He made the EFL team of the week for his midweek performance.

I may have made a rookie mistake in declaring on Twitter that I would bear my bum on the town hall steps if he doesn’t win the Owls Player of the Season. Quite a few fans have promised to vote for goalkeeper Keiren Westwood now.

If we are going to beat the Millers on Saturday, we’ll need a balance of Hutch’s passion but also self-restraint.

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Rotherham do looked doomed. Fifthteen defeats this season from 21 matches is a step beyond relegation form.

They haven’t the experience of Neil Warnock to squeeze out winning performances.

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With two managers down already this season and suggestions that their training facilities are inadequate, the Owls must be feeling confident.

Carlos Carvalhal has made all the right noises pre-match about the team being “alert” and “focused” for the Rotherham game because this could be one of those banana skin games.