Only one likely winner will double Owls’ woe

SOMETIMES form simply doesn’t go out of the window in a derby.

Sometimes a season that has gone wrong from the very start just cannot be turned around by the passion and energy of a derby.

This feels like just such a derby.

One hundred and ten days on from Sheffield United becoming the first away team in 125 years of the Steel City derby to score four goals, hostilities will be resumed tonight at Bramall Lane.

Everything points to a Blades win.

Not only are Chris Wilder’s men a dozen points ahead of their bitter rivals in the table, but an injury crisis at Hillsborough and this being new manager Jos Luhukay’s bow in English football also make Sheffield Wednesday a hugely vulnerable team.

Sam Hutchinson’s absence through injury is likely to be keenly felt.

He missed the Owls’ 4-2 defeat defeat in September, too, and this allowed United to take control of midfield.

I don’t, however, expect tonight’s winning margin to be as emphatic as it was earlier in the season. The goals have dried up a tad for United in recent weeks, but the hosts should still have enough to once again claim those bragging rights in front of the live Sky cameras. LIVING IN Sheffield, the Steel City derby conjures up a wide range of emotions on both sides of the city. But if ever a side can feel confident of winning then it is Sheffield United who head into tonight’s game in high spirits.

Yes, the Owls have been ravaged by injuries, but the majority of them were fit at Hillsborough in September and still United romped to a 4-2 win.

So will Wednesday’s reserves – remember, in transfer fees, tonight’s patched-up team will still cost more than United’s entire squad – fare any better?

The key is attitude. The Owls were complacent in September, and utterances of “just another game” in the home camp bordered on negligence.

Chris Wilder had his Blades team pumped up, and I expect no different approach tonight. Both teams head into the game on the back of a poor run of league form, but United’s performances haven’t been bad, unlike Wednesday’s.

Worryingly, several Owls players have partly blamed Hillsborough’s heavy derby loss for their poor season to date.

Such a fragile mental state will be severely tested tonight by a Bramall Lane crowd who have waited six long years to host their city rivals once again.

Despite the Luhukay factor, I can only see one winner.