Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County

After their FA Cup fifth-round tie was postponed on Saturday, Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping that the state of the Hillsborough pitch improves in time for Tuesday night's visit of Derby County.

Persistent rain in South Yorkshire caused the abandonment of the cup tie against Charlton Athletic, but the forecast over the next couple of days is calmer.

Stuart Gray's side saw their eight-game unbeaten run come to a convincing end at the hands of Wigan Athletic last week, but getting back to winning ways will be a tough ask against promotion-chasing Derby County.

Gray remains without the suspended Jermaine Johnson but he does have three new faces to include after a successful week in the loan window.

Gary Gardner, Sam Hutchinson and Leon Best all moved to Hillsborough and are in line to make their Owls debuts.

Visitors Derby will have had an eight-day break since their last game and confidence will be high after they toppled Queens Park Rangers.

Steve McClaren has a favoured XI at the moment and there are no reasons to make any changes on Tuesday night.

The reverse fixture between these sides ended in a 3-0 victory in Derby's favour back in November.

Recent form

Wednesday: LWWDDW

Derby: WDWDWL

Possible starting lineups

Wednesday: Kirkland; Palmer, Hutchinson, Llera, Mattock; Maguire, Gardner, Lee, Maghoma; Best, Afobe

Derby: Grant; Wisdom, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Eustace, Hughes, Bryson; Ward, Martin, Bamford

Sports Mole says: 0-2