Chester-born Challinor, a serial promotion winner, was named the Owls’ new manager just hours before today’s clash. He takes over from Henrik Pedersen, who was relied of his duties a week ago following back-to-back away defeats to Notts County and Doncaster Rovers.
The move sees Challinor reunited with sporting director Simon Wilson, who he enjoyed big success with at Stockport County. Challinor is expected to be joined by long-time assistant Clint Hill at S6.
He was in the directors’ box as Jerry Yates grabbed a late equaliser to extend Wednesday’s winless run to four matches. Here are four things he will have learned from the League One clash:
Attacking riches
Challinor will inherit a side who have been on a poor run of late but possess a plethora of attacking talent. Many League One teams would love to be able to upon players of the calibre of Barry Bannan, Callum Slattery, Davis Keillor-Dunn and Mason Burstow.
After a slow start against the Tangerines, Wednesday gradually settled down and took a grip of the midfield battle. Their patterns of play of constant rotations on the front line kept Blackpool guessing. It was a joy to watch the way Slattery, Keillor-Dunn and Burstow linked up in the first half. Slattery and Keillor-Dunn thrived in the advanced midfield roles, offering excellent support to Burstow in Wednesday’s 3-4-2-1 formation.
What is exciting for Challinor as he looks to quickly implement his philosophy and ideas is Louie Barry, Jamal Lowe and Ali-Al Hamadi will significantly increase their attacking firepower when they return from injury and suspension.
Sort out Keillor-Dunn’s future
He is just a classy player, isn’t he? Leighton Clarkson turned the ball over cheaply and Keillor-Dunn made the most of the gift, picking up the loose ball and bursting forward at pace before finding the bottom corner with an unerring right foot finish. It was poetry in motion and Keillor-Dunn’s fourth goal in his past seven outings. He could have scored earlier but it took some heroic last-ditch defending to keep him at bay.
It took a great save from former Owls shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell to prevent Keillor-Dunn from scoring after the restart as he continued to be a thorn in Blackpool’s side.
As things stand, Keillor-Dunn is due to head back to parent club Wrexham in the New Year. But the 28-year-old has already dropped a big hint he would be open to extending his Wednesday loan. Will he stay or will he go?
Disciplinary issues
Wednesday have lost two players to red cards in the last four matches. While Jamal Lowe can have no complaints over his sending off at Notts County, Sil Swinkels can count himself a tad unfortunate to see red on his return to the starting XI.
The Dutch centre-back was given his marching orders after being adjudged to have brought down Tom Bloxham and denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Bloxham appeared to be going away from goal but referee Simon Mather felt it was worthy of a red. Swinkels’ dismissal forced Wednesday into a tactical reshuffle, with interim boss Matt Hamshaw switching to a back four.
Given Callum Slattery also recently sat-out a match due to collecting five yellow cards, it is crystal clear Wednesday need to improve their disciplinary record.
Character test
It was a big test of Wednesday’s character after Swinkels’ red card. The 10 men battled so hard, giving everything for the cause. They were well-organised, defended in numbers and continued to create opportunities on the counter attack.
Blackpool emptied their bench and struggled to find a way through. The visitors huffed and puffed, rescuing a point with nine minutes to go after Wednesday sacrificed the outstanding Keillor-Dunn and rejigged their backline. Old boy Jerry Yates came back to haunt the Owls, prodding home Albie Morgan’s high cross.
Although Wednesday have now gone four matches without a win, it was an encouraging performance. They showed bags of grit, determination and spirit to grind out a result. You would imagine Challinor will have been impressed with a lot of what he saw in an entertaining encounter.
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