Source: FOOTYMAD
Changes hold the key to Owls success
Returning players help produce inspired performance Sheffield Wednesday put an end to a run of three straight defeats in the Coca-Cola Championship as they saw off play-off contenders Leicester City by two goals to nil at Hillsborough. A goal in each half for recalled striker Leon Clarke earned the Owls a much needed three points in their battle to beat the drop. The plaudits will go to Clarke as he turned out to be the match winner with his brace of goals but a great deal of credit must also go to three players returning to the starting line-up after injury absences. The previous three Owls displays can be described as insipid at best, short of attacking ideas and loose at the back. Supporters that witnessed the turnaround in the performance against the Foxes could be forgiven for thinking it was a completely different team playing. Winger Jermaine Johnson returned after missing 8 games with a hamstring injury and his pace offers Wednesday a crucial attacking option that they simply do not possess when he isn’t in the side. JJ has been criticised in the past for not making the most of his attributes and his end product has often been lacking but on this occasion he managed to work the opposition goalkeeper a number of times and his delivery for the second goal was inch perfect. Johnson has been one of the stand-out performers in the few games that he has played so far under Alan Irvine and the manager will need to keep getting the best out of the Jamaican if Wednesday are to escape the relegation zone. Tommy Miller has missed most of what has been a poor season for Wednesday through injury but started on the opposite side of midfield to Johnson and also produced an impressive, tidy display. Miller’s passing and decision making in possession was an obvious asset and if he manages to stay injury free and get a run in the team he is likely to possess a goal threat from midfield, as the club were hoping for when they signed him last summer. At the back captain Darren Purse came back into the team having missed the previous two defeats and put in a sturdy display to help the Hillsborough outfit keep only their second clean sheet in the past eighteen matches. The loss of Spurr at half time with a head injury meant a reshuffle at the back with Simek coming on at right-back and Nolan reverting to the left but the Owls coped well with this and although Lee Grant was forced to make a couple of top quality saves, one in each half, the visitors failed to put any sustained pressure on Wednesday’s back four. Purse has had a very inconsistent season but is another player that seems to have improved since Irvine’s arrival and his experience will be important going into the final stages of the season. After last weekend’s demoralising defeat a picture of doom and gloom was painted, this weekend the outlook appears rosier and there are likely to be plenty more twists and turns with twelve games remaining.
