Sheffield Wednesday’s young side will welcome fellow coupon-busters Grimsby Town to Hillsborough in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The Mariners shoved Manchester United out of the third round on penalties 24 hours after the Owls had done so against Leeds United. Wednesday last played Grimsby last season when they came from behind to win 5-1 in the second round of the same competition. Grimsby have started out well in their League Two promotion mission and sit fourth in the division, five unbeaten.
Henrik Pedersen’s young Owls side have won out two penalties shootouts to reach this stage, first at Bolton Wanderers before a remarkable edging out of Premier League Leeds.
The Hillsborough tie will take place the week commencing either September 15 or 22, with fixtures split due to the involvement and schedule clashing of teams involved in European competition.
Thousands of Wednesday supporters chose to boycott the Leeds game in protest, with only 7,801 having been present at Hillsborough for the upset including somewhere close to 3,700 away fans. It is expected that the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust will once again encourage a boycott in protest of Dejphon Chansiri’s running of the club.
Wednesday’s history in the competition is mixed. The Owls enjoyed a promising campaign last time out, beating sides from all three EFL divisions before being squeezed out on penalties after a goalless draw at Premier League Brentford. The round four defeat was the furthest they’d been in the format since a quarter-final placing in the 2015/16 season, when they beat Arsenal before tasting defeat to Stoke City.
The Owls remain the last English side to win a major trophy while playing outside the top division, with Ron Atkinson’s iconic vintage of 1991 having beaten a star-studded Manchester United side in a famous Wembley final.
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