SHEFFIELD United could rub salt into Sheffield Wednesday’s wounds by sending them down in front of their own fans in just over two weeks.
The Owls’ nightmare season is spiralling towards an ugly end, with relegation from the Championship now all but inevitable.
Wednesday have managed just one league win all season, a scrappy 1-0 success at Portsmouth back in September.
But since then there has been nothing but misery.
They are now 24 games without a win, rock-bottom of the table and stuck on minus seven points, leaving them a whopping 39 points from safety.
And the horror show could peak on February 22, when bitter rivals Sheffield United host the Steel Derby at Bramall Lane.
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If Wednesday lose their next two matches and Blackburn scrape just one point from theirs, the Blades could mathematically relegate their neighbours with a win.
It would be a brutal blow for boss Henrik Pedersen, already under fire, and a day of humiliation for the travelling Hillsborough faithful.
History offers little comfort too.
The Owls haven’t beaten United since 2012, with the Blades unbeaten in the last seven derbies.
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Earlier this season, United cruised to a 3-0 win at Hillsborough, piling more misery on Pedersen’s struggling side.
Pedersen’s men will also be mourning the loss their captain and talisman Barry Bannan to Millwall.
Chris Wilder‘s side find themselves 15th in the Championship after a 3-1 win over Oxford on Tuesday.
Wednesday would have to find a minimum of 40 points from their remaining 16 games to survive the drop.
Their only hope of avoiding the ultimate embarrassment may be scraping a point from clashes with Swansea or Millwall.
If they don’t, their bitter rivals could be the ones to send them down.
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