Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Blackpool

Sheffield Wednesday will hope that a Boxing Day visit from rockbottom Blackpool is just what they need to put an end to their recent slide.

Stuart Gray's men have lost two games in a row without scoring to drop back into the bottom half, with a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers followed by a 4-0 loss at Fulham on Saturday.

Their home form is where the bulk of the problems lie. If away games were all that counted, Wednesday would be a playoff side this season, but they haven't delivered at Hillsborough - only Saturday's opponents have accrued fewer points in front of their own fans.

In fact, the Owls have failed to score in five of their last six games at home and come up against a Blackpool side who have lost just once in their last five games.

That defeat did come on Saturday, though, and it was a hefty one as leaders Bournemouth visited the Lancashire coast. The gulf in class was clear as the Cherries ran out 6-1 winners on a rugged Bloomfield Road surface.

While Wednesday have been disappointing at home this season, Blackpool have the worst away record in the Championship with no win in 11 games on the road.

They haven't been helped by problems off the pitch involving chairman Karl Oyston, with club president Valeri Belokon suggesting that he should resign after calling one of the club's supporters a "retard".

One positive for the Tangerines and Lee Clark is their recent Boxing Day record - they are unbeaten in eight games, winning four.

The home side won this fixture 2-0 on both occasions last season.

Wednesday:

Recent form: DDWWLL

Possible starting lineup: Westwood; Palmer, Loovens, Lees, Mattock; Lee, Semedo, McGugan; Maguire, May, Helan

Blackpool:

Recent form: LDDWDL

Possible starting lineup: Lewis; Foley, Nosworthy, Clarke, Kennedy; O'Hara, McMahon, Perkins, O'Keefe, Eagles; Davies

Sports Mole says: 2-0