Despite finally faltering at the weekend, when their eight-match unbeaten run was brought to a halt at Adams Park, Sheffield Wednesday are still very much in contention for a top-six finish, which would earn them a shot at the playoffs.
Seeking promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, the Owls have everything to play for even after they were leapfrogged in the League One standings by Wycombe.
Jordan Obita’s second-half winner for the Chairboys saw them steal sixth spot, one point ahead of Darren Moore’s men, but Wednesday can now go back above them by beating struggling Fleetwood.
Since a 1-0 win over the Cod Army back in August, it has been a rocky road for the South Yorkshire side to navigate in English football’s third tier, but winning 10 of their last 12 home games has kept them in the hunt for promotion.
By contrast, they only hold the division’s ninth-best record on the road, so will take nothing for granted when they cross the Pennines on Tuesday.
Having suffered successive home defeats when following a 2-1 loss to Accrington Stanley with a reverse at the hands of Oxford United, Fleetwood were in dire need of turning things around in front of their own fans on Saturday.
They were ultimately indebted to Joe Garner’s dramatic late free kick, as the substitute striker scored a vital equaliser to snatch a draw against relegation rivals AFC Wimbledon at Highbury Stadium.
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The veteran’s strike two minutes from time lifted the Cod Army out of the bottom four on goal difference – sitting just above Gillingham – and their destiny remains in their own hands with two games to go.
Indeed, an against-the-odds victory in Tuesday’s game would essentially guarantee survival for Stephen Crainey’s side, thus sparing them a final-day decider at Bolton.
Nonetheless, not only do Fleetwood encounter opponents who require the points just as much, they are now winless in all but one of their last 19 matches – both losing nine and drawing times in the process – with only a 3-1 victory over rock-bottom Crewe earlier this month as the exception
