Roberto Di Matteo keen to get his Aston Villa reign off to a good start

The Sky Bet Championship new boys travel to Hillsborough buoyed by the recent signing of striker Ross McCormack, who scored 23 goals for Fulham last season.

New Villa boss Di Matteo is wary of the threat posed by the Owls, who lost to Hull in last season's play-off final, but is targeting maximum points in South Yorkshire.

He told the club's official website: "It's a tough start away at Sheffield Wednesday but we're looking forward to it.

"Pre-season is over now and we have done all the work that we could do in that period.

"Now it's great that the competitive games are starting.

"Sheffield Wednesday are a good team and they have made some good additions.

"They are (a) real tough test

But we want the points

There are 45 games after this one but we want to get off to a good start."

The Owls will be boosted by the news that goalkeeper Keiren Westwood has penned a new deal and will stay at the club for another three years, as well as the signing of Will Buckley on loan from Premier League side Sunderland

Buckley has found regular football hard to come by on Wearside since joining in August 2014, but the winger is sure a season-long switch to Hillsborough could rekindle old form.

"It's been quite a while since I've had a good run of first-team football and I need that to get back to where I want to be," he told the club's official website.

"When the opportunity came up to join Sheffield Wednesday, I jumped at it

I want to make an impact in every game I play.

Elsewhere, Garry Monk will take charge of his first Leeds match when his side travel to Loftus Road to face QPR in the early kick-off on Sunday.

The former Swansea boss became the club's seventh manager since Massimo Cellino took over at Elland Road in April 2014 following the dismissal of Steve Evans in May.

Monk will look to rebuild his reputation at Leeds and has used his connections from the Welsh club to bring in Matt Grimes, Kyle Bartley and former team-mate Pablo Hernandez to improve on last season's 13th-place finish.

In the opposite dugout, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will be hoping to get the better of one of his former teams in the season opener

The former Leeds favourite spent two years in West Yorkshire and made his international debut during his time at the club but is looking to take maximum points to get QPR's play-off push off to the best possible start

Source : PA

Source: PA