Sheffield Wednesday warned of one particular Derby County player punishing them | OneFootball

The Rams' captain made just 19 appearances for the Owls in his season at the club.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to make it two wins from two on Sunday afternoon as they make the short journey down the M1 to Pride Park Stadium to face Derby County.

Danny Rohl's side beat Hull City 2-0 in mid-week, resulting in the now former Tigers boss, Tim Walter, losing his job following the defeat.

The Owls are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, but will be up against a fired-up Rams side who are looking for a return to form after losing 2-1 to Swansea City on Wednesday, despite dominating the game for well over an hour.

The two clubs do have a lot of recent history, with Derby relegating Sheffield Wednesday to League One in 2021 on the final day of the campaign, before the Yorkshire club got their revenge two years later - denying Paul Warne's team the chance of reaching the play-offs thanks to a 1-0 win at Hillsborough.

Sheffield Wednesday urged to keep an eye on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing

There will be one recognisable face in the Derby team on Sunday at Pride Park, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing likely to lead out his side as captain against the Owls.

The 32-year-old made 19 appearances for Wednesday in the 2021/22 campaign, but did not endear himself to supporters, making this weekend's clash an even bigger one for him personally, as he will have a point to prove.

Football League World's Sheffield Wednesday Fan Pundit, Patrick McKenna, has identified the former Owl as the player he worries about the most heading into the game, and has warned his team about his potential to score or create a goal for the hosts.

"The player I fear the most for the weekend is Nathaniel Mendez-Laing," he told FLW.

"The first reason behind this is the curse of the ex-player. They really do like to come out and hurt Sheffield Wednesday, particularly players who maybe didn't leave in the best circumstances, with Mendez-Laing not leaving with a lot of warmth from the fanbase for his role in Sunderland's winner in the play-off semi-final.

"But he's gone on to have a relatively solid time with Derby and he has contributed directly to a few of their goals this season. So, I just have that nagging doubt that he could just pop up with a vital assist or a vital goal against his ex-club."

Patrick continued: "I suppose that's my reasoning, it’s not mainly driven by facts or by form. People might point out that he hasn't been their top player this season and X&Y players are a bigger threat. I suppose the years of supporting Sheffield Wednesday and past experiences has just conditioned that fear in me that Mendez-Laing, out of all the Derby players, will be the one to stick the knife in and score."

Sheffield Wednesday must capitalise on Derby's poor form

Despite starting the season well, it's been a difficult couple of months for Derby, and their form has drastically gone south.

They have won just one of their last eight matches, drawing five, and losing the other two. While they are a difficult side to beat, these draws that are racking up will frustrate Warne, especially as some of them have come against sides that they should have beaten.

Sheffield Wednesday must inflict further damage on this Rams side, and push them further away from touching distance of the Owls - especially as they do have a difficult December coming up. Rohl's side have made a huge jump up the league table in recent weeks, and there is a chance that they can catch up to those in the top six still.

Nevertheless, there will still be worries about Mendez-Laing's impact on the game, and if he finds himself prepared and ready for the task at hand, he can cause great issues for his former club and fire his current team to all three points.