Source: FOOTYMAD
Two bad results for Wednesday on Tuesday
Reserves slip up as gap to the relegation zone narrows Sheffield Wednesday suffered something of a double setback on Tuesday without the first team being in action. The first disappointment of the evening came at Stocksbridge where the Owls second string were humbled 3-0 by Macclesfield Town reserves. Despite creating a fair few chances in the first half Wednesday found themselves a goal down at the break and failed to make a second half comeback. There were a few players on the fringes of the first team in action at the Look Local Stadium including Frank Simek, Etienne Esajas and Luke Boden but none will have made much of an impression based on this showing. Macclesfield came into the fixture sitting bottom of the reserves league but the win takes them level on points with Wednesday. The small size of the Owls squad has hindered their season in the Championship and this has filtered through to the second string as invariably the club have had to field a team full of youngsters. Disappointingly all too often when the first team squad players have been given a run out they have failed to produce performances worthy of putting any pressure on those in the first team. The second and more pivotal setback of the night came at Vicarage Road where relegation rivals Watford and Crystal Palace met in a key Coca-Cola Championship encounter. The home side went into the game a point behind Wednesday with Palace a further four points back occupying the final relegation spot and so it would probably have been in Wednesday’s best interests for the game to end in a draw or a home win. As it was the visitors came away with a resounding 3-1 victory to cut the gap between the relegation zone and the Owls to just two points and the Eagles have a far superior goal difference. Watford remain in deep trouble and are suffering an alarming slump in form but like both Scunthorpe and QPR directly above Wednesday they do still have a game in hand on the Owls. There was slightly better news at Home Park where second-bottom Plymouth were held to a 0-0 draw by Barnsley though in retrospect this was probably a point gained for the home side as they were 4-1 down in the second half when the original fixture was abandoned. Argyle are now six points behind Wednesday with a similar goal difference going into the final six games. With two games to come for each club over the Easter weekend the picture could well be much clearer by this time next week. Should QPR avoid defeat at home to Wednesday this Saturday then they will fancy that they should be able to do enough to stay clear of trouble, Palace and Watford begin their Easter programme with tricky trips to Middlesbrough and Preston respectively.
