Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday - Peter White's big match preview

ALMOST a year on from when he made his Sheffield Wednesday debut against Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough, Benito Carbone is now a well-established force in the Premiership.

And that won't surprise Ewood boss Roy Hodgson as he prepares his team to face the Owls at Ewood tonight.

For it was Hodgson, then in charge of Inter Milan, who sold him to Wednesday for £3 million.

The fee soon looked justified as Carbone finished a highly-respectable 12th in the Carling Opta rankings for attacking midfielders last season.

That was one place ahead of Jason Wilcox and eight in front of Tim Sherwood in a section won by Liverpool's Steve McManaman in front of Juninho.

The little Italian, who has now been joined in the Wednesday ranks by another former Serie A star Paolo Di Canio - who once interested Rovers - is a key man for Wednesday. One of his strengths is his passing. Carbone had a completion rate of more than two thirds, and his attacking threat is obvious from the other relevant statistics.

Including the five goals he scored, he averaged a shot on target every game and also featured prominently with his dribbling and crosses into the danger zone. Hodgson said: "I know 'Benny' well, he's a very talented player and one who was very interesting to work with.

"But Youri Djorkaeff's arrival to some extent made him available for transfer as they are similar types of player.

"I also remember Di Canio when he was at Juventus and in my first year in Italy he played for AC Milan, but was on the substitutes' bench quite often."

Wednesday have only one point - gained from their 1-1 draw at Wimbledon on Saturday - after their first three matches.

But manager David Pleat said: "When Di Canio gets used to the Premiership I think you will find he will make great strides.

"Once everyone is fit I think you will see a big difference in our play. Jon Newsome and Graham Hyde have not played since March but both came through well against Wimbledon.

"We will get better. We have had two difficult away games so I am not too unhappy."

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