EFL confirm referee decision for Sheffield Wednesday v Sunderland
The team of officials has been confirmed for Sunderland’s visit to Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
The EFL have confirmed the team of officials that will oversee Sunderland’s visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.
The Black Cats travel to Hillsborough looking to return to winning ways after suffering consecutive defeats against Leeds United and Hull City and hand a boost to their bid to return to the Premier League for the first time in eight years. However, their hosts also have their eyes on promotion and could close to within three points of the play-off places if they avenge the 4-0 defeat they suffered at the Stadium of Light during the early weeks of the campaign.
With a passionate affair anticipated at Hillsborough in front of the Sky Sports cameras, there is a need for cool heads on all sides - and the statistics seem to show the EFL have taken that into account after naming Will Finnie as the referee for the fixture. According to TransferMarkt, the 30-year-old has taken charge of 27 games in all competitions so far this season, handing out 85 yellow cards at an average of just over three per game. However, he has dished out just a solitary red card after dismissing Gillingham midfielder Ethan Coleman for two bookings in their 3-0 home win against League Two opponents Tranmere Rovers in September.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the current season about his approach to officiating, Finnie said: “We’re addressing that poor behaviour and trying to build positive relationships with the players. That’s our key focus. We’re football fans, we get it, it’s a game full of emotion… we’ve got a whole host of different approaches we can take… we’ve got the opportunity to build that good rapport and communicate to manage that situation. We don’t want to have to jump straight to a yellow or red card if we can help it. But of course, if that line is crossed, where it’s clearly unacceptable, we’ve got a job to do and we will make sure we enforce that.”
Finney will be assisted at Hillsborough by Daniel Leach and Mark Stevens and Oliver Langford will be on fourth official duties.