Sheffield Wednesday

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen believes his side are heading in the "right direction" despite losing at home to promotion chasers Millwall 1-2 on Saturday.

Although Millwall dominated the majority of the game, Jamal Lowe tapped in for the Owls after Charlie McNeill's long-range effort was spilled to give the Championship's bottom side a surprise advantage on the hour mark.

However, an own goal from Cole McGhee and Lions substitute Macaulay Langstaff's close-range finish from Femi Azeez's low cross completed a swift turnaround for the visitors who succumbed Wednesday to their 23rd league loss of the season.

"I think it was a fantastic game for the boys," said Pedersen to BBC Radio Sheffield. We played against a strong Millwall team, a top team in the Championship, and we knew they are maybe the most physical team in the league for set-pieces, long balls, second balls and duels.

"How we managed this game today, big respect to our guys. For the defensive stuff, we were really well organised and we managed all the long balls, and we also managed to win a lot of the second balls.

"Today, compared to some of the other games, we also had some power when we won the ball to play forward, to run forward, to get high up on the pitch and to create something so it's a big step in the right direction."

Image source, Opta

Millwall will look to strengthen their Championship play-off hopes when they visit bottom club Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

The Lions are fifth and hold a six-point advantage over Preston in seventh - their best league position after 31 games of a second tier season since the 2022-23 campaign when they were sixth at this stage.

The Owls could be relegated against arch-rivals Sheffield United next weekend if they lose to Millwall and the Blades - and one of Leicester or Blackburn pick up another point in that time.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past 10 league games against Millwall (D4 L5), a 2-0 away win in February 2024.

• Following their 1-0 win in November, Millwall are looking to complete the league double over Sheffield Wednesday for the first time since 2002-03.

• Sheffield Wednesday have failed to score in their past nine league games, losing each of the past eight. No team in English Football League history has ever lost nine in a row without scoring before.

• Millwall have lost just one of their previous nine league games (W5 D3), with no Championship side suffering fewer defeats since Christmas than the Lions.

• Sheffield Wednesday have failed to score in their past nine league games – only one team in the history of the second tier has failed to score in more consecutively in a single campaign, with Coventry going 11 between October and December 1919.

Image source, Getty Images

Henrik Pedersen admitted his Sheffield Wednesday side found it 'tough' to maintain their promising start once they conceded the opening goal to Swansea's Goncalo Franco.

The Portuguese midfielder's 19th minute-strike was all that separated the sides at the Swansea.com Stadium until the final 20 minutes, when Zan Vipotnik hit a quickfire double and substitute Malick Yalcouye rounded off a 4-0 victory for the Swans.

Owls boss Pedersen, whose side have now lost eight consecutive games and failed to find the net since December, said: "We saw a positive energy in the first 19 minutes. We had good pressing situations, good sequences on the ball.

"Then they score the goal, they played through us, and we also have to say Swansea is a fantastic team. After the goal they got more confident on the ball and started to move us around.

"We wanted to be compact but it was difficult for us. It was tough to press really tight against them.

"Second half we came out with a good energy and started to win balls high up the pitch, but we also lost balls. The biggest challenge was that when we won the ball we also lost the ball – we didn't create what we wanted."

Image source, Opta

Sheffield Wednesday will seek to avoid unwanted history when they travel to Swansea on Sunday (12:01 GMT).

The rock-bottom Owls are edging closer to League One and Tuesday's 1-0 defeat at Blackburn means they have now lost seven straight Championship games and gone eight league games without scoring - their last goal was scored by Bailey Cadamarteri in the Boxing Day draw with Hull City. They have never gone nine league matches without a goal in their history.

The Swans are 16th going into the weekend, seven points clear of the relegation zone and are unbeaten at home since November, winning five of their past six matches there and drawing the other, conceding only three goals in that run.

• In what is the 19th different league campaign in which the sides have met, Swansea are looking to complete the league double over Sheffield Wednesday for the first time.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past seven away league games against Swansea (D3 L3), though it was in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Since the start of December only Middlesbrough (8) and Hull City (8) have won more Championship games than Swansea (W7 D1 L4).

• Sheffield Wednesday have failed to score in any of their last eight league games. Never before have they gone nine without a goal in their league history (also 8 in March/April 1975).

• Swansea's Zan Vipotnik is the top scorer in the Championship with 13 goals, while no player has netted more at home than the Slovenian (9, level with Jaden Philogene).

Image source, Shutterstock

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen claims his players must attack quicker to end their goal drought, which stretches back to Boxing Day.

Wednesday lost 1-0 at Blackburn to make it eight defeats on the bounce and Pedersen can see their difficulty in front of goal.

Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I think all the boys really, really, really, really look forward to scoring a goal again, but there's no way out.

"We're working a lot with the set-up, the build-up and we do that well. We also saw that today, but to create something, we need to have more dribbling, we need to speed up the game because we cannot play with the same speed and expect to create.

"Yeah, we work a lot on that in the training. Of course, it could be a theme, but I think the courage, the braveness, it's OK to miss a pass if you want to make a difference.

"It's OK because we have our press. So it's a mindset that we have to risk and be ready to make mistakes with the ball, but we also have to bring more balls into the box."

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

Sheffield Wednesday fans haven't had a lot to smile about recently. The team haven't scored a goal since Boxing Day. They are on a record winless run in the Championship.

Relegation is certain – but the future of the club is anything but. The EFL's owners and directors' test continues to work on the James Bord consortium, as they try to buy the club. There's no clear timescale on how long that will take, or what the outcome will be.

Life is tough on the fans. Even Barry Bannan decided to move to Millwall instead of finish out the season at Hillsborough. That was probably a gut-punch too far for some.

Deadline day at the very least changed the conversation, if only for 24 hours.

On the Sunday, the Owls brought in Tayo Adaramola from Crystal Palace. He did a brilliant pair of interviews, firstly with the club and then on our deadline-day special on BBC Sheffield. Articulate, determined, up for the challenge. It was exactly what was needed.

Then, two further additions – Joel Ndala on loan from Manchester City and Marvelous Nakamba after his Luton contract was cut short.

Bailey Cadamarteri departed to Wrexham – a move that was considered necessary given the club's financial situation. We understand the deal was worth £1m up front (a significant factor compared to other bids) with add-ons and sell-ons attached to potentially give the club a further financial boost in the future.

Some fans have questioned the decision to sell a young striker who could've been useful in League One, instead of other more experienced players. The truth is there were no bids for Yan Valery and the offers made for Svante Ingelsson were nowhere near good enough.

I also think Ingelsson is an important player to keep. Throughout this miserable season, the Swede hasn't stopped running. In a lost cause, his commitment has been admirable. He's also a good player – one who the club can rebuild around next season if things are sorted off the pitch.

I'd argue that of all the players to keep – he was the one. He's well liked by some other Championship clubs. He's a key asset. He's a good age at 27. He can play multiple positions. It's to Wednesday's enormous benefit that he stayed. They'll need players like this.