Alex Neil watched Sunderland demolish a patched-up Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 at the Stadium of Light in December - but warns tomorrow night's play-off semi-final will bear no resemblance to that one-sided display. Wednesday resumed their campaign on Wearside after a 19-day hiatus caused by a Covid outbreak and were further depleted through injuries, as Ross Stewart grabbed a hat-trick and Sunderland ran riot to ensure they would go into the New Year sitting atop the League One table.
Lee Johnson was in charge of the Black Cats at the time but Neil, who was then out of work, was travelling the country watching a variety of games and it was one of the matches he took in. Tomorrow night it will be Neil leading Sunderland into battle against Wednesday in the first leg of the play-off semi-final at the Stadium of Light, but he expects a very different game to the one he witnessed just before the turn of the year.
"I've seen a lot of them because they play a similar shape to us so when we do our prep work, when we watch the opposition's games we often watch them against Sheffield Wednesday," said Neil. "I've also, obviously, watched the video of our games against them home and away.
