[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The wins keep coming for Albion, who presently stand on the verge of four consecutive away victories for the first time since December 2019. Hillsborough is the destination for Saturday's early kick-off, where - despite masterminding a great escape turnaround for Wednesday last season that Carlos Corberan would have been proud of - Danny Röhl has overseen a rougher start to the new campaign than the 4-0 opening day win against Plymouth, or indeed the months of positive results that preceded it, might have suggested. Switching to a back five in the last fortnight has resulted in some improvement, though the absence of Di'Shon Bernard (who was dismissed somewhat dubiously for an alleged handball against Luton, and failed in his appeal against suspension) weakens the Owls defence for this encounter, and Röhl will have to choose between plugging the gap with Michael Ihiekwe, the returning Dominic Iorfa or youth prospect Gabriel Otegbayo, who performed well against Blackpool in the League Cup. Ex-Villa man Barry Bannan has supplied the last couple of league goals for Wednesday, and will be one for us to watch out for; meanwhile, Albion are still missing Jayson Molumby to a calf injury, so Uros Racic will be likely to deputise in the middle of the park again. It's no secret that our goal threat will come from Tom Fellows teeing up Josh Maja, who's been prolific on the road so far and could become the first Albion player to find the net in four consecutive away matches since Diomansy Kamara in February 2007 if he scores in this one; keeping that pair quiet will therefore be integral to Wednesday's chances of success.

I do think the Owls are liable to click into gear at some point soon, and our 3-0 defeat at Hillsborough back in April is a reminder that with the home crowd behind them, they're more than capable of doing it against us. But on paper we go to the Steel City as favourites, and have to look to live up to that label with a point or three if we can turn in another solid performance. Should we slip up, the visit of mid-table Middlesbrough to the Hawthorns on Tuesday evening for our first mid-week league fixture of the campaign will be an opportunity to make instant amends, or to consolidate our lead if we return from Hillsborough with the points at the weekend.