Signs you watch too much football, part 690,492: I just identified Marc Albrighton from his voice. Feel free to send in examples of your own.
Barry Bannan – Wednesday captain, football’s foremost baldness denier, and all-round top bloke – speaks to Sky. He says it’s been a testing time for everyone at the club, but they’ve stuck together and come through. Today’s a big day and they’re all looking forward.
“Where are the players in that dressing room?” asks the next question, inadvertently answering itself, and Bannan adds that he’s proud of the way the squad have responded. He knows the fans in a sold-out away end will come in late as protest, but once they do, they’ll be behind the team.
There’s a lot of experience in the squad, though they’ll be underdogs all season, and he’s looking forward to the challenge.
I’ll write these down and, in the meantime, here’s some reading on Wednesday.
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk; Justin, Okoli, Vestergaard, Thomas; Skipp, Soumaré; Fatawu, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Ayew. Subs: Begovic, Faes, Nelson, Winks, Choudhury, Page, McAteer, Monga, Daka.
Sheffield Wednesday (5-3-2): Charles; Valery, Palmer, Iorfa, Otegbayo; Lowe M; Chalobah, Ingelsson, Bannan; Lowe J, Cadamarteri. Subs: Stretch, Johnson, Siqueira, Fusire, Shipston, Fernandes, Kobacki, McNeill, Ugbo.
First things first: it’s been a terrific start at Wembley. Join Rob Smyth to follow along.
When Leicester began their last Championship season, just over two years ago, it felt almost impossible they’d fail to secure promotion, most likely having taken the title. They had a new manager, Enzo Maresca, with decent pedigree, and a raft of players who were simply too good for the competition.
Shonuff, they won the league. But at the start of last term, it felt almost impossible that they’d fail to secure relegation, Maresca having left and the squad not good enough for the top tier; such is modern football.
Shnouff, they were relegated, 13 points and goal difference shy of safety, so now the process begins again. And, though it is no longer obvious that their squad is the best in the division, Abdul Fatawu, Stephy Mavididi and Bilal El Khannouss will be a handful for any defence they face, while Jeremy Monga, still only 16, showed plenty of potential in the Premier League. They are only fourth favourites for promotion, but Marti Cifuentes looks another smart managerial appointment, and if he can get things going, they have the players to contest promotion once more.
Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, are a shameful, shambolic state of affairs: once again, a proud club has, with the authorities watching, been vandalised by an inappropriate owner. Consequently, Danny Röhl, a promising young manager, has left; so too have Josh Windass, Djeidi Gassma and Michael Smith; and as such, struggle looks inevitable and relegation a near-certainty.
Thing is, the fans will barely care. Not because they’re no longer interested in their beloved club, rather the battle now is not for points, but for survival. Real talk, the amount of money there is in the game means every member of the 92 should be safe in perpetuity – all the more so given the governmental oversight the game ought to have had for decades is imminent. In the meantime, though, Owls’ fans are furious and desperate, rightly so, and nothing, not even a win today, will change that.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST
