Sheffield Wednesday braced for hectic run of seven games in 25 days

Danny Rohl’s Owls already had a busy February, but must now squeeze in an FA Cup fourth-round replay at Coventry City after the two sides drew 1-1 at Hillsborough on Friday night.

If Wednesday win, they will then host giantkillers Maidstone United – who knocked out Ipswich Town at the weekend – in the last week of February.

Whatever Wednesday achieve in the cup this season is a bonus, their priority being to avoid relegation from the Championship.

After Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw at QPR on Sunday – the two teams directly above second-from-bottom Wednesday – they sit six points adrift of safety with a game in hand.

That match is on Wednesday, when Watford visit Hillsborough, before the Owls travel to the Terriers – who sit three points clear of the bottom three – on Saturday.

After the replay at Coventry, on Tuesday February 6, Wednesday host Birmingham City the following Friday evening.

Away trips to Leicester City and Millwall are next, before the Owls welcome Bristol City on Saturday February 24, and then that possibility of a midweek cup tie with Maidstone.

Against Coventry, the visitors took the lead via a long-range effort from Victor Torp.

But Djeidi Gassama equalised in the 84th minute to earn a fourth meeting with Coventry in the space of six weeks.

“It was a good game, it was the third time we had played them in a small amount of time,” said Owls defender DiShon Bernard.

“I am tired of seeing Coventry now,” he joked.

“I thought the boys dug in well, especially when we went 1-0 down.

“We kept trying to play the right way and eventually we got our goal. A good performance.

“We had a few chances, hit the post, so it was good to get back in the game.

“It’s good to get a draw, after a couple of losses. Hopefully we can now build on that momentum,” he added.

“Looking towards Wednesday (Watford at Hillsborough), a clean sheet would be good, so we will be looking for that.”

Gassama denied the Sky Blues a second win at Hillsborough inside a week after their 2-1 Championship success last Saturday, which was marred by allegations of racist abuse towards their striker Kasey Palmer during the match.

Both clubs condemned the alleged abuse, but Palmer was booed on several occasions by a section of home fans at the weekend.

Owls boss Rohl was pleased his side had halted their slide after back-to-back league defeats and insisted the club had sent out a clear message regarding last week’s racism incident.

When asked if the booing undermined the Owls’ zero-tolerance stance, he said: “It was more important we showed last week, a clear direction from everybody, my team, from the fans, from the club side and I think the statement showed what we think about such situations.

“We cannot accept this, we will not accept this. If we see something or hear something, I think then we have to take responsibility of course. Everybody is involved and has to do something.

“But today for me it was a normal emotional football game, some hard duels about the ball, some reactions and this is football, hopefully the normal football we want,” added the German.