Sheffield Wednesday: Midfield dilemma for Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal

Experienced campaigner David Jones will serve a one-match suspension following his red card at Brentford before the international break.

Carvalhal may turn to Almen Abdi, who has flattered to deceive since arriving from Watford, to plug the gap.

Record signing Adam Reach is also expected to be handed his debut after arriving in a £5m deal from Middlesbrough last week. It could well be Lucas Joao who makes way for the 23-year-old winger, with Fernando Forestieri moved up front.

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Should the Portuguese chief decide not to recall Abdi, one possible alternative is to switch Barry Bannan into the centre to partner Kieran Lee and field Reach on the right and Forestieri on the left flank. It would then be a choice between Joao, Gary Hooper and Atdhe Nuhiu to play alongside Steven Fletcher, who scored in Scotland’s win over Malta last Sunday.

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Carvalhal has plenty of options at his disposal as he seeks to halt Wednesday’s five-match winless streak. The Owls, edged out by Hull City in the Championship Play-Off final at Wembley last May, sit in 19th position after collecting a paltry five points from their opening five fixtures.

Centre-back Tom Lees said: “The pressure is going to be on us from the start of the season after what happened last year. We’ve put ourselves in a spot by saying we are one of the teams who probably should be up there so everyone’s going to be watching.

“We started really well, had two poor results and suddenly everyone puts you under pressure and we’ve got to deal with that.

“But I’m sure we can handle it. We have a good group here and if anyone can handle the pressure it is us.”

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