Former Ipswich Town and Derby County man has his say on ‘wayward’ Sheffield Wednesday

Having gone 23 matches without defeat, Wednesday go into tonight’s game at Cheltenham off the back of two consecutive losses to Barnsley and bottom-of-the-table Forest Green Rovers and some nerves have crept in amongst the fanbase.

Darren Moore’s men remain three points ahead of third-placed Ipswich and last night’s suprise defeat for Barnsley (4th) at Exeter has the potential to put a little more daylight between them and the Owls.

But despite losing two on the spin, Wednesday should still be looking up and they could leapfrog Plymouth and go top if three points are taken from The Completely-Suzuki Stadium tonight.

One pundit firmly believes that the Owls shouldn’t be too concerned by their recent form but they must start putting points on the board again.

“[Darren Moore] will be a little bit concerned because their form seems to have gone a little bit wayward in the last couple of games - Barnsley was a fantastic game, by the way, to watch - and the one against Forest Green,” said former Ipswich Town and Derby County striker Darren Bent.

“I genuinely thought they would bounce back against Forest Green, they didn't. They've got Cheltenham and Lincoln next, now if you look at where they are after the Barnsley result, look at the teams... Forest Green, Cheltenham and Lincoln, you go 'ok, that's fine, we can probably bounce back’. But after losing to Forest Green, they have got to get a result now against Cheltenham.

“They are still in a fantastic place... Ipswich are breathing down their necks, Barnsley, Bolton are a little bit away, but all you can keep doing is keep trying to win your games because it is so congested, obviously Plymouth being top.

"You have got to think, the last time they lost before the back-to-back losses was against Plymouth back in October. It was a long time since they lost so it's one of them, the wheels haven't come off, fully. [It's a] slow puncture.”

Speaking on TalkSport, Bent said the old heads in the Wednesday dressing room will become hugely important if they are to get back on track.

“They have got good players,” he added. “They are going to have to lean a little bit on their experience... Liam Palmer, Barry Bannan, lean on these types of players... Lee Gregory, to get these players out of this mini-slump that they are in. But I have got no doubts whatsoever that this league will go right down to the wire when it comes to automatic promotion.”