Speaking with Vital Sheffield Wednesday

Prior to tonights Carling Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday I thought I'd track down VSW editor Nicholas Rigg and ask him his thoughts on the Rovers v Wednesday match this evening.

Here is what Nicholas had to say about his side's approach and outlook on the game -

'As nice as it would be to progress in the Carling Cup, promotion out of League One is what every Wednesday fan wants this season so a full focus on league matters will, or at least should, take priority this season. For that reason, I doubt Gary Megson will field his full strength starting XI tonight with a big game against Scunthorpe to follow this weekend.

In slightly different circumstances (we played the last round on a Thursday night with a trip down to Bournemouth following on the Saturday in the league), Megson made ten changes for the first round game against Blackpool - showing exactly where the priorities lie this season. Things are a bit easier this time around, with an extra day to prepare for the weekend and a home game making travelling easier, so I expect a stronger side at Ewood Park tonight, but far from full strength.

That understrength side did 'ok' against Blackpool, albeit Blackpool also resting their first eleven, and was hard to beat, so I'd hope that we'd at least give you a tough contest tonight. I expect, much is the Megson way, that we'll look to try and contain you, defending in numbers, and try and take our chances from set-pieces, where we've been most dangerous this season thanks to the height and strength in the squad.

We should also be bringing a decent away following given it's the early round of the competition, and midweek, so Megson will at least want to try and send those fans home happy. I was there at the semi-final some years ago when we took 6,000 and there was a great atmosphere, even though we did get beat. There won't be as many there this time, but a trip to a Premier League side is seen as a bit of a day out, and although the majority of us don't expect to progress, there is the slight hope given your poor start to the season.'

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