Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End - Garry Monk keen for Owls to discover ruthless streak to steer clear of SkyBet Championship trouble

In the event of Wednesday suffering a points deduction if they are found guilty of breaching profitability and sustainability rules, the grim prospect of the club being propelled into the picture at the bottom of the Championship still stubbornly refuses to go away.

The current data that is concerning Monk is likely to revolve around the number of chances that his side are spurning – with their preventable weekend defeat at former club Swansea City being a case in point.

The Owls missed five gilt-edged chances at the Liberty Stadium and are one of just three Championship teams to pass the half-century mark for their tally of missed clear-cut opportunities in 2019-20 alongside the promotion-chasing duo of Leeds United and West Brom.

Wednesday have scored 50 league goals this season, with 20 of those registered by players who are no longer at the club, including top-scorer Steven Fletcher and Fernando Forestieri.

Therefore it does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that their best hopes of gathering points lies in eking out wins.

Owls chief Monk said: “It is hard because you want to credit the players for a large part of the (last) four games, but things could and should have been different.

“But for ourselves, we need to turn what have been quite dominant displays in certain periods of games into rewards. That is what we have to get better at.

“We need to be ruthless and cut out the mistakes defensively.”

Tonight’s opponents Preston also have offensive issues with their winless run extended to seven matches in Saturday’s goalless draw at Huddersfield Town and a lack of cutting edge has intensified Alex Neil’s concerns for his team’s play-off hopes.

On the task facing the Owls, Monk said: “They have been a real competitive squad over the last couple of years now under Alex and have got good players and quality.”

Last six games: LLDWLL; Preston LLDLLD.

Referee: T Harrington (Cleveland).

Last time: Sheffield Wednesday 1 Preston 0, December 22, 2018; Championship.

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