Exclusive: Lee Hendrie drops Sheffield Wednesday promotion prediction | OneFootball

Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie issues his verdict on how Sheffield Wednesday's 2026/27 season will go if relegated to League One

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie believes that Sheffield Wednesday have every chance of making an immediate promotion push next year if relegated as expected to League One.

As Sheffield Wednesday look to recover from the Dejphon Chansiri era, all involved at Hillsborough now know that the next step in the club's progression is all about recuperation.

Constant restrictions in terms of their transfer activity due to embargoes placed upon them because of their former owner, combined with the 12-point deduction due to filing for administration, has made the 2025/26 campaign a long season ahead, and we're only in November.

With their Championship survival hopes seeming all but over even at this early stage. Wednesday are looking to revitalise the club, not just when it comes to their finances, but also with their personnel at the top of the club and on the pitch.

It's no surprise that some Owls fans already have one eye on next season despite its unpredictability of where the club might be in nine months time. One thing Wednesday will hope happens by then is that new owners are in place and have settled into their role. Whether that's still in the second tier or in League One is undetermined.

If relegated come May, Lee Hendrie has issued his verdict on whether the Owls could launch an immediate promotion push next season under new ownership.

Lee Hendrie believes that Sheffield Wednesday will be 'backing themselves' for League One promotion

With a third of the season played at the turn of the November international break, it's clear to see that the Championship is starting to take shape, and you can gauge where teams will find themselves come May. After consistent financial woes and a threadbare squad with a lack of senior players, it was expected that Wednesday would be battling it out for survival even before their wicked point deduction, which more or less, has sealed their fate.

Still in the minus figures for points with a third of the season played, has all Wednesday fans gearing up for League One. When asked whether the stability of the new owners, as and when that happens, can guide the club back to where they belong, Hendrie said: "I think it's difficult to call, I think that yes, potentially."

"I think having gone through all the certain situations that they've gone through, I think it is obviously about sorting everything out that has caused them to be in this situation and that's took quite some time."

"And then you've got to think about players that they need to attract and bring in."

"The thing is, Sheffield Wednesday are a massive football club, their fanbase also. So they're not going to struggle to get players if there is money to actually attract them players."

"It can potentially get them back into the Championship if it's inevitable that they are to get relegated."

"So I think that, yes, they're a big club that will be backing themselves to get promotion if this happens."

Sheffield Wednesday must make sure that everything is in place for next season

Before the season started, Sheffield Wednesday were tipped to be one of the main strugglers amongst those teams in the bottom half following their troubled time away from the pitch. With the 2025/26 campaign seeming as though it would be a draining season for their youthful squad, it has been everything of what was expected, and more.

Despite achieving a solid mid-table finish last season with 58 points and nine clear of the dropzone under the guidance of the now Rangers boss, Danny Rohl, key departures in the summer left the arriving Henrik Pedersen with a lot of work to do, which has proved a near enough impossible job to walk into.

Looking ahead to next season, with Pedersen expected to still be at the helm after undergoing a time of turmoil, Wednesday fans will be confident that he is the man to bring them out the other side, and steer the club back on track.

If shrewd business is conducted in the summer of 2026, which starts at the top of the hierarchy by giving the manager sufficient funds to bring in the players he needs to achieve the feat of an immediate promotion, then Wednesday fans will have something to look forward to and get excited about, which is a feeling that has been absent for too long for a club of that stature.