Blackburn v Sheffield Wednesday: Owls heading toward another safety route

December has proved the catalyst to season-defining winter runs in their previous two campaigns which have helped ward off the chill of relegation danger for Wednesdayites and the challenge for the Owls is to use it to their advantage again.

They start at Blackburn today, with the Lancastrians having used a fair quota of their seasonal luck to garner recent results against Middlesbrough and Leeds United.

It is the first of three fixtures on the road for the Owls, who also travel to Fulham and Wigan this month.

Given their league away results in December over the past two years, with important wins recorded at Barnsley, Bolton and Watford and just one defeat arriving in a combined seven games, it is a task which should not have them cowering.

Particularly given their form on the road this season, with Wednesday boasting the best goals against record on their travels in the Championship, with just the high-flying trio of Middlesbrough, Derby County and Bournemouth having taken more points.

Head coach Stuart Gray, hoping to crown his 50th game in charge with a victory in East Lancashire this afternoon, said: “People often say when you get to the Christmas period that the league table tells you where you are going to be, whether you are in touching distance of the play-offs.

“I think it is a good spell for us. We are going to be playing teams who are in and around us.

“It was pleasing to get a win last week against a good Wigan side. Now we have got to build on that.”