Sheffield Wednesday head to Ashton Gate on Sunday looking to avenge last season’s horror show.

The Owls’ suffered a harrowing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Lee Johnson’s side, in Jos Luhukay’s darkest day as Wednesday manager.

Owls can’t change the past 

Jos Luhukay described the Bristol City defeat as one of the most difficult matches of his Wednesday tenure but insists that both sides have changed since then.

He said:

“We had no control over a lot of moments.”
“At that time, Bristol had a very good team with good, dangerous strikers. Bobby Reid was there and he was their top-scorer. He was very successful against us. He went to the Premier League last summer.”
“We had no stability. They changed a lot of positions at the time. They deserved the win.”

We’re a “different team”

Luhukay feels the Owls are a “different team” to the side that suffered last season’s 4-0 mauling.

He said:

“They have signed some players but their coach is the same,”
“We have some changes in our team.”
“Both teams are going in a positive direction. On Sunday, we will see two good teams play against each other. We must be 100 per cent mentally and physically strong.”

So just how far have the Owls come since that dark day in March?

Since the game, Wednesday have won 10, drawn 6 and lost 6. This is a major improvement on their form leading up to the fixture.

The loss at Bristol City left Luhukay with a record of 1 win, 4 draws and 4 defeats.

The Owls also failed to score in 4 of Luhukay’s first 9 games leading up to the Bristol City clash.

Since then, they have only failed to find the net in 3 of their last 22.

Quite the turnaround.

Fessi the key? 

Wednesday were without a number of key players the last time they faced the Robins.

Argentinian striker Fernando Forestieri was amongst the absentees.

The forward has had an indifferent season so far. He was involved in a pre-season bust-up with Krystian Pearce, in a bad-tempered friendly against Mansfield Town.

On the pitch though, it is hard to doubt his qualities.

The forward scored during his side’s 2-2 draw with West Brom on Wednesday, to continue his remarkable record playing at home.

The striker has scored 24 goals in 45 games in the league at Hillsborough.  However, he will be hoping to improve on his away record.

Forestieri has scored 12 goals in 49 away games.

If he can rediscover his best form and take it into away games, he could be crucial for the Owls this season.

Double figures in Reach? 

After scoring two stunning goals in successive games, Sheffield Wednesday winger Adam Reach believes he can hit double figures this season.

The 25-year-old certainly has an eye for the spectacular, as he proved against Leeds United and West Brom.

He’s on 4 goals for this campaign, already equalling his tally for the whole of last season.

Adam now feels that reaching double figures is a realistic target for the 2018-19 season.

He said:

“The two goals that went in last week have come from distance and that’s great but goalscoring is something I want to improve this season.”
“I’ll take a goal from a yard that hits me on the back of the head and goes in.”
“I’m sure any time I do pick it up from range, the fans who travel down to Bristol will be shouting shoot.”
“Like I said, I don’t mind if they go in from one yard or 25 yards but those two goals were special.”
“Double figures is what I’d like to achieve and I don’t think that’s unattainable.”
“I only got four goals last season and I think sometimes people assume it was more because of the quality of some of them.”
“I’ve already matched last season’s tally and like I say, I think ten is an attainable feat.”

Since the start of the season, nobody has scored more goals from outside the box than Adam Reach.

Reach has scored 5 goals from distance, with an average distance of 28 yards. 4 of the 5 goals were scored with his left foot.

Jos Luhukay will certainly be hoping he has something special saved for Sunday.

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