Sheffield Wednesday reach the midway stage of the Championship season knowing that a significantly improved second half of the campaign is required if the team are to avoid relegation.
The managerless Owls, playing under caretaker Stuart Gray since the sacking of Dave Jones last month, sit 22nd in the table having accumulated just three victories all term.
Below, Sports Mole looks back on what proved a poor first half of the season for Sheffield Wednesday.
August
Successive 2-1 defeats to promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers and Burnley in the opening two weeks of the season would hardly have acted as a barometer of the team's potential.
However, questions were asked of Jones's capacity to retain the club's Championship status for a second season in succession after the Owls failed to secure victory in any of their following three fixtures that month - including a 2-1 defeat to League One outfit Rotherham United in a first-round Capital One Cup clash.
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After being held to a 1-1 draw with Leeds United, the team looked set to register their first three points of the campaign in a home clash with Millwall, only for Andrew Keogh to convert an 87th-minute penalty and snatch a 2-2 draw for the Lions.
Wednesday spurned the chance to claim victory once more a week later in the 1-1 draw with Middlesborough, as Michail Antonio saw his opener cancelled out by Mustapha Carayol.
September
Sitting 21st in the standings with three points from a possible 15, the Yorkshire-based outfit were undone once more in their quest to move up the table after going down 4-1 to Birmingham City, with Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard bagging all four goals for the Blues.
Seven days later Jones's charges slipped further down the division after slumping to a 1-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Doncaster Rovers.
October
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October threw up a freak run of results for the club, with Jones's charges recording a 1-1 draw in each of their four fixtures that month to extend the team's winless streak to 12 in the Championship - 13 in all competitions.
November
If October had provided little cause to celebrate by virtue of the club's on-the-field exploits, then events early in November will have prompted renewed optimism in South Yorkshire.
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Sunderland striker Connor Wickham signed on for a two-month loan spell, before the team picked up their first victory of the campaign in emphatic style.
The Owls thrashed Reading 5-2 at Hillsborough, with two-goal Matty Fryatt, Antonio and Wickham himself helping to break the club's duck in the Championship.
The ebullience would prove short-lived though, and defeats to Derby County, Huddersfield and Blackpool ultimately sealed Jones's fate.
December
The 57-year-old was dismissed by owner Milan Mandaric on December 1 after a 20-month spell at the club.
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Results initially improved under the stewardship of caretaker boss Gray, who led the team to only its second win of the campaign with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City, courtesy of a Wickham brace.
The 20-year-old replicated his heroics later in the month in the 0-1 triumph over Watford, firing a 24th-minute free kick past Hornets keeper Jonathan Bond.
Nevertheless, Wednesday failed to emerge from the relegation zone and Sunday's 1-1 draw with Charlton - also achieved through a Wickham goal - ensured that the club ended the calendar year in the bottom three.
Shane Callaghan
