Tony Pulis faces his old club on Tuesday night as his Sheffield Wednesday side welcome Middlesbrough to Hillsborough.

After losing three on the bounce, Wednesday have taken four points from their last two, including a hard-fought draw away to Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day.

Middlesbrough on the other hand, have turned their small blip in form on its head to win their last three - the latest coming by virtue of a 4-1 win away to Birmingham City.

Boro's Boxing Day fixture was postponed after Rotherham United announced several COVID-19 cases amongst their squad.

Match preview

Pulis's men put in a gritty display away to Blackburn and led courtesy of a goal from former Boro man Adam Reach, but it was not enough to secure the win after an equaliser came 14 minutes from time to make sure the spoils were shared.

Wednesday still have work to do to break out of the relegation places and are three points adrift of safety, with sides around them - such as Derby County - starting to find form.

Wednesday have won just once since Pulis took charge in November, and have only secured two home wins in 11 games - something that Pulis will be keen to put right as soon as possible.

For all the work Pulis will have undoubtedly done on team shape on the training ground, his side have recorded just two clean sheets from his 10 matches at the helm, and will now face a side who scored four in their last away game.

Boro overcame a lacklustre Birmingham City in their last match, having come from behind to run out 4-1 winners in a dominant display that temporarily lifted Boro back into the playoff places.

Neil Warnock's side scored four goals away from home for the first time since 2014, when they won away to Millwall, under the manager who was on the receiving end of this 4-1 drubbing, Aitor Karanka.

Before their Boxing Day postponement, Boro had played nine times in 29 days, a relentless run of games that have fallen on Saturdays and Wednesdays for four straight weeks.

Warnock - who is currently navigating his 41st season in management - has seen it all before, of course, and revealed that his team are not currently training between games, and instead focusing on recovery and tactics.

Warnock's approach seems to be working for Boro, who have scored eight goals in their last three, conceding only one, and they now face a side who are finding clean sheets hard to come by, followed by another team who sit in the relegation zone in Wycombe Wanderers.

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: DLLWLD

Middlesbrough Championship form: WLLWWW

Team News

Reach was forced off with eight minutes to go at Ewood Park after sustaining a hamstring injury, and looks set to miss the chance to play against his former team.

Wednesday defender Joost van Aken also missed the match and will miss the Owls' meeting with Boro.

Britt Assombalonga was back to scoring ways last time out and could keep his place ahead of Chuba Akpom.

Warnock will assess the recovery of Johnny Howson as he looks to overcome a hamstring injury. If deemed fit, Lewis Wing could make way despite scoring a brace against Birmingham.

Marcus Browne also returned to training in recent weeks and could be named among the substitutes.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Westwood; Odubajo, Palmer, Dunkley, Lees, Shaw; Bannan, Pelupessy, Brown, Paterson; Windass

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair, Bola; Wing, Saville, Morsy, Johnson, Watmore; Assombalonga

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Middlesbrough

Form suggests that Boro are the likely winners here, and we expect them to come through against their former manager, to further compound misery for the Yorkshire side.

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