Sheffield Wednesday come into this game clinging onto the fringe of the play-offs, with the hosts sitting in sixth place on 66 points. Newcastle, meanwhile, have recently scraped wins against struggling Burton and Wigan to stay on course at the top.
The home side have struggled for form of the late, recording just one win in their last five Championship matches. That solitary victory came in a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Rotherham, but for now it has been enough to lift Carlos Carvahal’s men into the top six.
Steven Fletcher grabbed a brace last time out for the Owls, with January signing Jordan Rhodes struggling to get firing recently. Before Tuesday, the hosts had scored just two goals in their previous four league games.
Newcastle needed a strike from Matt Ritchie to scrape past a resurgent Burton Albion last time out, with their lead at the top of the table remaining at just one point ahead of second-placed Brighton.
Sammy Ameobi made his return to the Magpies’ side off the bench last time out, with Rafa Benitez expected to continue to Mohamed Diame in a more reserved midfield role once again this weekend.
Sheffield Wednesday have been struggling for form of late, and while Newcastle haven’t been necessarily pretty recently, they’ve been scraping results to get over the finish line for promotion.