Neil Harris is expecting a rough ride when he takes his Cardiff City side to face Garry Monk’s fourth-placed Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Sunday.
The two managers have locked horns before in the Championship, when Harris was in charge at Millwall and Monk was at the helm at Leeds United, Middlesbrough and then Birmingham.
But they also have a shared playing history as a striker and defender, going back to the 2005-2006 season when Harris was playing up front for Gillingham and Monk was a centre-back at Swansea City.
Harris scored when the Gills won 2-1 at Swansea that season and then managed the double with a 1-0 win over Monk and the Swans later that campaign in March.
“I played against Garry a few times,” said Haris. “I’m not sure of our record but I like to think I scored when he was marking me.
“He’s a good man, a good Championship manager, and he’s got some good experience. It will be a good test for us.
“Sheffield Wednesday have done very well and Hillsborough is a notoriously tough place to go.
“They play 4-4-2, so it will be physical and we will need to be strong.
“We will have to find the quality we need to ask questions of them. We have had three wins, four draws and a defeat in my eight games. I would have liked to have seen another win in there to be honest.
“But it’s also about the players delivering what I want. There is no quick fix.
“It is getting used to having the football again. That’s important. It’s about finding a different way to play. I will only accept certain standards and for the players to reach those.
“I want to get up there as quickly as possible, but it’s taking a little longer than I hoped it would.
“It’s difficult because there are so many matches that you don’t have a lot of time on the training field.
“What I want are fast starts – at the beginnings of matches and the start of halves. We have been poor at that.”
Wednesday are hoping top scorer Steven Fletcher returns from illness. Fletcher has missed the Owls’ last two matches due to a virus but has been able to resume light training.
Monk will also check on forward Fernando Forestieri (knee) and goalkeeper Kieren Westwood (shoulder).
Westwood, who recently lost his place as first choice to Cameron Dawson, was replaced on the bench by Joe Wildsmith in Thursday’s loss at Stoke.
Cardiff are still without captain Sean Morrison through suspension as they seek their first win in four matches.
Morrison is serving the third game of a three-match ban for his sending off against Leeds earlier this month.
The Bluebirds will need to check on Lee Peltier after the defender limped off following a blow to the foot in the first half of the Boxing Day draw with Millwall.
Influential midfielder Joe Ralls remains on the sidelines with a broken hand.
Harris was left frustrated after the Bluebirds were held to a 1-1 draw with his former club Millwall on Boxing Day.
The result means Cardiff have gone four matches without a victory.
“We’ve had two really tough, physical home matches so it will be good to get the team back on the road again,” admitted Harris. “We need to create more clear-cut chances and I want to see more from my wide players.”