Dave Challinor will take charge of his first match as Sheffield Wednesday manager on Sunday in an FA Cup first-round tie away at Oldham Athletic.

Both teams enter at this stage with the visitors returning to first-round action after suffering relegation to League One last season.

Match preview

Oldham Athletic head into the weekend aiming to pull off a major upset at Boundary Park and advance to the FA Cup second round.

They have progressed past this stage in the last two seasons, beating Northampton Town in last year's first round before bowing out in a home loss to MK Dons.

On the league front, Micky Mellon are underway in a second season in League Two after National League promotion, currently sitting 18th following a 10th-placed finish last time around.

From their 14 games thus far, the Latics have managed 15 points, winning four and losing seven of those while scoring just 15 goals, but one of those wins did come last time out on Tuesday as they beat Northampton 1-0 away from home with Oliver Norburn scoring the only goal.

Yet to win consecutive league games this season, Oldham will now bid to build on that midweek victory and make a statement with a big home cup win at the weekend to book a second-round spot.

Their visitors, meanwhile, will begin under new management with Sunday's cup tie in their first season back entering in the first round.

Sheffield Wednesday dropped to League One last time around in a season to forget, ending on 0 points having suffered deductions and administration before facing a fresh start under new ownership in League One.

The Owls initially enjoyed a quick rebound and a fast start in the third tier, but a dip in form in October left the club hierarchy unsatisfied and saw them dismiss Henrik Pedersen.

In temporary care following that exit, Matt Hamshaw was unable to inspire a turn in their fortunes, overseen a pair of draws to see a winless streak stretched to four matches having most recently led Blackpool through Davis Keillor-Dunn and been reduced to 10 men before being pegged back by a Jerry Yates equaliser.

With newly-appointed Challinor in attendance for that game, which saw his new team sit ninth but just two points off the top six, he will now hope to get off to a winning start and begin an upturn in form for Sheffield Wednesday.

Oldham Athletic form (all competitions):

Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions):

Team News

Oldham Athletic will remain without Kai Payne and Kane Drummond, who continue to serve red-card suspensions on Sunday with the club losing appeals for both players after they were sent off in a defeat last weekend.

Elsewhere, Ryan Delaney, Keenan Appiah-Forson and Jack Stevens are still confined to the treatment room.

They may be unchanged from the midweek win, with scorer Norburn a key man in midfield while Calum Kavanagh and Mike Fondop are danger men in attack.

Challinor inherits a much-improved and deeper Sheffield Wednesday squad in 2026-27 but one hit by injuries with Joe Lumley, Liam Cooper, Tyler Onyango, Louie Barry, Billy Mitchell, Reece James and Ali Al-Hamadi among those sidelined, while Di'Shon Bernard is unlikely to be deemed fit to start.

Sil Swinkels will also miss out after his red card against Blackpool last week, while Jamal Lowe is back in contention after his suspension.

They may make some rotations to afford rests for the likes of Barry Bannan and Yan Valery, with Harry Gray, Kieran Morrison and Jordi Liongola all hoping to come in while Gabriel Otegbayo and Ricardo Santos will both compete to take Swinkels's spot at the back.

Oldham Athletic possible starting lineup:

Hudson; Sutton, Daniels, Monthe; Scott-Morriss, Norburn, Pett, Robson; Chilvers; Kavanagh, Fondop

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Maynard-Brewer; Palmer, Santos, Weaver; Fusire, Heskey, Slattery, Morrison; Burstow, Lowe, Gray

We say: Oldham Athletic 1-3 Sheffield Wednesday

Oldham Athletic certainly have the tools to cause problems for Sheffield Wednesday, particularly considering the squad issues faced by the visitors, but we back Challinor to get more out of a squad with plenty of quality still available and see the Owls progressing at the weekend.

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