Championship sides Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City will kick off their FA Cup campaigns on Saturday, when they meet in a third-round tie at Hillsborough.
The teams met in South Yorkshire in December, when Saturday's visitors completed a league double over the Owls with a 2-1 victory.
Match preview
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Sheffield Wednesday will enter this year's edition of the FA Cup in the third round, after kicking off at the first stage last season and advancing to the fourth round by beating Morecambe and Mansfield Town and pulling off a memorable upset at home to Newcastle United, only to fall just short in a replay against Fleetwood Town.
The Owls will now kick off their latest bid in the midst of what has been a particularly pleasing run of form under Danny Rohl in the Championship, having climbed within three points of safety at the bottom end of England's second tier in recent months after sitting on just six points from their opening 17 matches in late November.
Since then, the South Yorkshire outfit have added 16 more points to their tally in just nine further attempts, managing five wins along the way as well as a creditable draw against runaway leaders Leicester City, and they now head into the weekend on the back of consecutive three-point hauls to bounce back from consecutive defeats to Saturday's opponents and Coventry City either side of Christmas.
Rohl's men returned to winning ways in a trip to Preston North End, as Marvin Johnson netted the only goal of the game in the first half, before they most recently hosted Hull City on New Year's Day and recorded a sixth three-point haul of the campaign and a fifth in the last eight games with Johnson, Djeidi Gassama and Josh Windass having them 3-0 up before they stood strong following Scott Twine's goal for the visitors 14 minutes from time.
Having quickly reduced what was a major gap to safety to just three points at this stage soon after the halfway point of the campaign, Sheffield Wednesday will certainly be full of renewed confidence, and before returning to Championship action with the hopes of further boosting their survival hopes, they will be keen to avenge the December defeat and progress past Cardiff City on home turf this weekend.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, will set out to make it three victories over the Owls this term and advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2019-20 season, having fallen short at this stage in their previous three attempts.
In what has been an improved first half to the latest Championship campaign under the new management of Erol Bulut, Cardiff City first met Saturday's hosts in South Wales in August and prevailed in a 2-1 victory, thanks to Ryan Wintle's injury-time penalty, before they travelled to Hillsborough for the return fixture before Christmas and made it back-to-back 2-1 triumphs.
Anthony Musaba had the Owls ahead until the 74th minute, but Karlan Grant would eventually draw the Bluebirds level before Famewo's late own goal sealed the three-point haul, and they were only able to follow that up with a draw against Plymouth Argyle on Boxing Day and a defeat to leaders Leicester City before returning to winning ways last time out following the turn of the year.
Bulut's side travelled to the English capital to meet strugglers Queens Park Rangers on Monday, and after Dimitrios Goutas saw his opener cancelled out by a Paul Smyth equaliser, the Welsh side would eventually come out on top as Perry Ng restored their lead with the decisive goal 16 minutes from time.
Having climbed back up to ninth spot in the Championship with that return to winning ways, trailing the playoff places by just three points, Cardiff City will now turn their focus to the FA Cup and set out to again come out on top in South Yorkshire and book their place in the next round.
Team News
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Following their busy recent league schedules, both sides may opt to make several rotations at Hillsborough on Saturday, although Sheffield Wednesday continue to deal with a list of injuries as Dominic Iorfa, Akin Famewo, Callum Paterson and Will Vaulks remain confined to the treatment room.
In the absence of Vaulks and the suspended George Byers, full-back Liam Palmer joined captain Barry Bannan in midfield against Hull City last time out, but the latter should be handed a rest at the weekend with Byers set to return from the start, while Momo Diaby could also earn a start having featured off the bench in that win after enduring a long injury layoff.
On the back of his goal in the triumph over Hull, 20-year-old Djeidi Gassama should again start on the left wing, with Ashley Fletcher and Michael Smith both vying to come into the attack from the start having seen limited opportunities in recent weeks with Bailey Cadamarteri and Anthony Musaba preferred, while Michael Ihiekwe and Di'Shon Bernard may continue their centre-back partnership with Bambo Diaby also returning to contention after being suspended on New Year's Day.
Cardiff City are also dealing with several enforced absentees, as Callum O'Dowda and Aaron Ramsey remain sidelined despite nearing returns, while attacker Karlan Grant is also confined to the treatment room.
Rubin Colwill, Kion Etete and Yakou Meite lined up in a front three for their trip to QPR on New Year's Day, but Bulut does have options to rotate with Josh Bowler, Callum Robinson, Ike Ugbo and Ollie Tanner all vying for a start, while Ebou Adams should come into the midfield from the outset, affording a rest for either Joe Ralls or Ryan Wintle.
Dimitrios Goutas will also likely miss the trip to Hillsborough due to personal circumstances, meaning Jonathan Panzo could come in to join former Sheffield Wednesday loanee Mark McGuinness at the heart of a back four.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Valentin, Ihiekwe, Bernard, James; Diaby, Byers; Gassama, Fletcher, Wilks; Smith
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Ng, Panzo, McGuinness, Collins; Adams, Siopis, Wintle; Bowler, Ugbo, Robinson
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Cardiff City
With both sides likely to rotate heavily at the weekend as we emerge from the busy festive period, Cardiff have slightly more quality to call on and will fancy themselves to score a third win of the season over their hosts to progress to the fourth round.
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Sam Varley
