Di'Shon Bernard, the 23-year-old Reggae Boyz defender, has praised the impact of new Jamaica head coach Steve McClaren, stating that the changes under McClaren are benefiting his development both at the international and club levels. Bernard, currently representing Jamaica in World Cup qualifiers, highlighted how McClaren’s progressive playing style aligns well with what his club manager, Danny Rohl, is implementing at Sheffield Wednesday.

Bernard explained how, in the past, the playing styles between his national team and Sheffield Wednesday had been starkly different. However, with McClaren's arrival in July, the shift toward a more possession-based, progressive game plan has made his transition between club and country smoother.

“We're doing a lot of build-up where before it was more long ball, going off seconds,” Bernard told The Yorkshire Post. “Now we're building up from the back, having the keeper take more responsibility on the ball. That's good for me because doing it here [at Sheffield Wednesday], it's easier to take it into the national team.”

McClaren’s approach is proving to be a positive influence for Bernard, who feels that this new playing style better suits Jamaica’s talent and allows for more technical football. “I think it's better football for us with the national team, with the players we have. With our quality, we just needed that guidance to play that football,” he added.

The former Manchester United player also spoke highly of McClaren’s coaching acumen, having worked briefly with him at Old Trafford. McClaren’s experience and leadership have already made a significant impact on the Reggae Boyz, despite only being in charge for two matches so far—a 0-0 draw with Cuba and a 2-1 win over Honduras.

“I worked with Steve for a little bit at Manchester United before I left; he's a quality coach and the staff he brought with him too. The standard of training's gone up, everyone's working hard because when there's a new manager you want to be in that team but it's a squad thing,” Bernard said.

As Jamaica looks to continue their World Cup qualifying campaign, Bernard’s development under both McClaren and Rohl is helping him grow into a more complete player. The alignment between Jamaica’s evolving style of play and Sheffield Wednesday’s tactical setup is allowing Bernard to perform confidently on both fronts, which bodes well for both his club and international future.

Norwich City climbed to within one place of the Championship play-off spots following a 3-2 victory away at Derby County and a hat-trick from Borja Sainz.

The result ended a run of nine straight home wins in the league for Derby, and it was the first time they have been beaten at Pride Park since February. Norwich, meanwhile, have now won three of their last four matches.

Norwich took the lead in the first half through Sainz in controversial circumstances, with the ball looking as if it had gone out of play during the build-up to the goal.

But Derby would not go down without a fight, equalising through Craig Forsyth on his 300th career appearance, as he fired past Angus Gunn from eight yards.

Just five minutes later, Norwich were back in front with Sainz hitting a bouncing ball from outside of the box and the Spaniard secured his hat-trick with another three minutes from time.

Derby got one back in stoppage time through Corey Blackett-Taylor, but were unable to force an equaliser.

Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday beat league leaders West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Hillsborough to win for the first time in the league since the opening day.

Danny Rohl’s side were one up after nine minutes, with Darnell Furlong deflecting Marvin Johnson's effort past his goalkeeper. Josh Windass doubled their lead in the 23rd minute.

The Baggies got back into it after the hour, with Josh Maja heading in from a deep cross for his seventh goal of the season, and substitute Alex Mowatt dragged them level in the 84th minute.

But two minutes later, Anthony Musaba put Wednesday back in front for a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the match. The hosts climb to 16th, two points above the bottom three.

Blackburn Rovers maintained their 100% home record in the league with a 2-0 victory over QPR, who had Jonathan Varane, the half-brother of former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, sent off in first-half stoppage time for a late lunge on Danny Batth.

John Eustace's side struck twice in the second half to ensure their strong form rolled on.

Top-of-the-league Sunderland extended their perfect start to the season as they beat Portsmouth 3-1 at Fratton Park to secure their fourth Championship victory in as many matches.

The visitors went ahead 31 minutes into the match through a Zak Swanson own goal and never looked back.

It was an unfortunate moment for Swanson, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when team-mate Jordan Williams’ clearance rebounded off him into the goal.

Republic of Ireland international Alan Browne added a second - his first since signing for Sunderland in the summer transfer window - six minutes into the second half, before Romaine Mundle made it 3-0 and killed the game as a contest in the 56th minute.

Portsmouth made four substitutions on the hour, including the introduction of deadline-day signing Mark O’Mahoney, but none were able to get their team back into the match.

The hosts managed just one shot on target before Luke O’Nien’s stoppage-time own goal gave them a consolation. They await their first victory of the campaign and sit 18th in the table.

Oxford United went up alongside Portsmouth, but enjoyed their afternoon a little more as they came from behind to beat Preston North End 3-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

It was a first defeat for Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom, who was appointed manager earlier in the month after Ryan Lowe was sacked.

The visitors started better, with Emil Riis Jakobsen opening the scoring after just three minutes. But in-form Mark Harris levelled after 20 minutes with a header as he scored for the fourth straight league game.

It was to get even better for Oxford in the second half when Tyler Goodrham put them into the lead with a spectacular strike. Preston were then reduced to 10 men, with Liam Lindsay picking up a second booking in the 70th minute, and Greg Leigh wrapped up the points a minute later.

The win takes Oxford to eighth, while Preston are in 21st, one place below Sheffield Wednesday who were beaten 3-0 by Millwall at the New Den.

Josh Coburn scored on his debut for the hosts in the second half, before goals from Duncan Watmore and Jake Cooper secured Millwall’s first win of the season. For Wednesday, it’s now three straight defeats.

Unbeaten Leeds United went fourth in the table following a 2-0 victory over Hull City, who sit 19th and are still waiting for their first victory of the campaign.

Second-half goals from Mateo Joseph and Joel Piroe at Elland Road helped Leeds secure back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Brenden Aaronson and Daniel James struck either side of half-time to secure Leeds United's first win of the new season, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 on Friday. 

Aaronson notched his second league goal of the season early on, before James sealed the victory with a fine finish for his 30th goal involvement for the club. 

The visitors started brightly at Hillsborough as Mateo Joseph was the first to test James Beadle inside the opening five minutes of the contest. 

And their attacking persistence was rewarded in the 24th minute when Aaronson swept a left-footed effort home after Joseph had been fouled inside the penalty area. 

Despite registering seven shots in the first 45 minutes, the visitors were unable to increase their advantage, but it didn't take long to claim that two-goal cushion. 

Joseph, once again the architect, saw his cutting pass pick out James, who sprinted clear of the Owls' defence before delicately lobbing the ball over Beadle. 

The Welshman's strike was the second goal Leeds have scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half in the Championship this season, with only Watford (three) bettering that total thus far. 

Leeds' triumph moved them up into fourth in the early season standings ahead of tomorrow's Championship action.

Data Debrief: Joseph inspires Leeds victory

Going into the encounter, Leeds had failed to win their last four Championship games, but their star quality at the top end of the pitch shone through. 

Despite not getting on the scoresheet, Joseph was the standout performer for Farke's side and looked a fitting replacement for the gap left by Georginio Rutter. 

The Spaniard registered the most shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (seven), producing an expected goals (xG) of 0.3, a total only bettered by James (0.46). 

Sunderland made it two wins from two in the new Championship season following a 4-0 rout of Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light.

Eliezer Mayenda struck twice while Dennis Cirkin and Luke O'Nien were also on target for the Black Cats, who moved up to second in the table behind early leaders Burnley.

Sunderland failed to win any of their final seven home league games at the end of last season, but Regis Le Bris' side came flying out of the blocks and were 2-0 up inside the opening quarter of an hour.

Cirkin broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when he nodded Patrick Roberts' free-kick home, before Mayenda pounced on Josh Windass' loose pass to double the advantage four minutes later.

It was 3-0 in the 24th minute when O'Nien was quickest to react to Chris Rigg's deflected shot, diverting the ball beyond Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle.

Any faint hopes of an Owls comeback were ended as the hosts sealed the victory within two minutes of the restart, with Jack Clarke squaring the ball for Mayenda to tuck into an empty net.

Data Debrief: Sunday stroll for Sunderland as Black Cats scratch 50-year itch

Sunderland's struggles towards the end of last season are well and truly behind them, as they continued their positive start to this term.

The Black Cats have won their opening two games of a campaign in the second tier for the first time since achieving the feat under Bob Stokoe half a century ago.

Their fast start saw them score three goals in the opening 24 minutes of a Championship game for the first time since going 3-0 up against Gillingham after just 20 minutes in September 2004.

Wednesday, meanwhile, are the first team in England's top four tiers to start a league season with a victory by a margin of four goals or more (4-0 vs Plymouth) then lose their second game by four or more goals since Blackpool in 2010-11 (4-0 vs Wigan, 0-6 vs Arsenal).

Wayne Rooney claimed his first win in charge of Plymouth Argyle with a 3-0 victory over fourth-tier Cheltenham Town in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Manchester United and England great Rooney was appointed as Plymouth boss ahead of the 2024-25 season, returning to the Championship after an unsuccessful stint at Birmingham City last season.

But the former striker's league bow saw Plymouth thrashed 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday, with Rooney criticising his players following the first match of the campaign.

This cup meeting with Cheltenham eased the pressure on Rooney and Plymouth a little, however, even if they had to wait until past the hour mark for Ben Waine's breakthrough goal.

Ryan Hardie and Mustapha Bundu then added to the scoring in the final 10 minutes to send Rooney's side safely into the second round.

Argyle are joined there by league foes Wednesday, who continued their strong start to the season by beating Hull City 2-1 courtesy of an early Charlie McNiell brace.

Meanwhile, in the third and final tie on Wednesday, Middlesbrough dumped out fellow Championship promotion candidates Leeds United, winning 3-0 at Elland Road.

Leeds, beaten play-off finalists last season, had been held at home by Portsmouth on the opening day of the league campaign and were frustrated again in front of their own fans, who booed the team off at full-time.

Anfernee Dijksteel's fine individual strike was followed by goals from Delano Burgzorg and Josh Coburn to ensure Boro boss Michael Carrick joins former team-mate Rooney in the draw for the next stage.

Wayne Rooney described himself as "angry" after watching his Plymouth Argyle side begin their Championship campaign with a meek 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

Rooney's first competitive game at the helm was one to forget as Wednesday ran riot at Hillsborough, with Jamal Lowe, Josh Windass and Michael Smith among the scorers.

The Manchester United and England great has now recorded just two wins in his last 16 Championship games in charge of Birmingham City and Plymouth, drawing four and losing 10.

Speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of Sunday's defeat, he hit out at his players for failing to do the basics against a well-drilled Wednesday side. 

"The scoreline was deserved. We conceded four goals from four crosses. The basics of the game were not there," Rooney said.

"We didn't take the ball well enough or handle the crowd. We allowed them to get a foothold in the game, and we let it run out and conceded two more goals.

"I'm disappointed and angry, because that's not the performance I wanted to see. We spoke about their threats from crosses.

"We spoke about Barry Bannan and we let him run the game and didn't get close enough to him. That wasn't acceptable.

"The players have to earn a right to play. You can lose football games, that happens, but there's a way you want to see your players run, work and tackle. 

"We've had a lot of fans come a long way, and the performance we've given wasn't good enough. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Wednesday racked up 30 shots totalling a huge 4.85 expected goals (xG) in Sunday's game, with 24 of those efforts coming from inside the Plymouth area.

Plymouth, meanwhile, amassed just five attempts worth 0.31 xG, hitting the target once and only recording eight touches inside their hosts' box.

Wayne Rooney's reign as Plymouth Argyle boss got off to a miserable start as they were thrashed 4-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in their first Championship game of the season.

Sunday's trip to Hillsborough represented Rooney's first match back in management since he was sacked by Birmingham City in January.

Any hopes of a flying start to his time on the south coast were quickly dashed as Danny Rohl's team dominated from the off, eventually racking up 4.85 expected goals (xG) from 30 shots at goal.

Jamal Lowe converted Svante Ingelsson's cross on the slide to hand the Owls a 35th-minute lead, then the new striker saw a header deflect in off the unfortunate Brendan Galloway for 2-0 shortly after the break.

Wednesday added further gloss to the scoreline late on, Josh Windass stabbing home an 82nd-minute third before Michael Smith came off the bench to finish from close range in stoppage time.

While the resounding victory takes Wednesday top of the early-season standings, Plymouth prop up the second-tier table ahead of Monday's match between Luton Town and Burnley.

Data Debrief: Plenty for Rooney to ponder

Plymouth were thoroughly outclassed by a Wednesday team they finished just two points behind last season, leaving their new boss with plenty to think about.

They only managed five shots to the hosts' 30, facing a huge 24 efforts from inside their own area.

Since returning from a spell in MLS with D.C. United, Rooney now has a record of two wins from 16 Championship matches with Birmingham and Plymouth (four draws, 10 losses).

Sheffield Wednesday climbed out of the Championship relegation zone with a vital 3-1 win at Blackburn.

Roared on by a 7,321-strong away following, Danny Rohl’s men responded with a deserved victory on an edgy afternoon against fellow strugglers Rovers.

Josh Windass’ spectacular early lob was cancelled out in the ninth minute by Sammie Szmodics’ well-taken finish – his 31st of the campaign.

Wednesday took control with two goals in six second-half minutes as Marvin Johnson slotted in to finish a lightning break, before Aynsley Pears endured a moment to forget when he somehow sliced a clearance into his own net.

The win moves the Owls a point and a place clear of the bottom three after making it four unbeaten.

Blackburn were brought back down to earth after the win at Leeds and, aside from a second-half chance for Szmodics, barely threatened. They are just three clear of trouble.

Wednesday’s vociferous away support were rewarded with a sixth-minute opener as Pears was stranded after racing out of his box to head a ball clear but Rovers lost possession and when it fell to Windass, he brilliantly lifted the ball in off the crossbar from 35 yards.

The prolific Szmodics equalised within three minutes as he latched onto Callum Brittain’s pass and though his first touch was heavy, he confidently lifted the ball over James Beadle from eight yards into the bottom left corner.

Both sides were disjointed and untidy in possession, but Wednesday should have scored in the 37th minute when Windass turned Anthony Musaba’s low cross wide.

They went close again when Johnson set up Liam Palmer, who blazed over, while a simple long ball set Szmodics clear in first-half injury time but Bambo Diaby got back to thwart him.

Wednesday did regain the lead in the 58th minute after winning the ball on the right and Musaba raced down the wing before sending in an inch perfect cross for the onrushing Johnson at the back post who emphatically found the bottom corner from six yards.

The visitors registered a third six minutes later, but it was all Blackburn’s doing and a horror moment for Pears who, under no pressure at all, completely mis-hit his clearance from Dominic Hyam’s pass and it spun behind him and into his own net.

Rohl’s men were in control at this point but they were let off when Szmodics fired over from 12 yards, though Musaba went close to capping a superb performance with a goal but Pears somewhat redeemed himself with a terrific reaction save to palm away.

Will Vaulks’ powerful free-kick forced Pears to parry away in injury time but Wednesday had done enough to register a crucial victory.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl was disappointed with his side’s failure to win after taking the lead as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Stoke.

Liam Palmer gave the home side a 68th-minute lead before substitute Luke Cundle equalised in the 76th minute.

Rohl said: “I think today is hard to take. We dominate the whole game with so many chances. I think after 10 minutes we have to lead two or three-nil.

“At the moment a draw is not helpful for us, so it’s hard to take today. But then next week we have to go again. I have to lift my players. The good thing is it’s just one point behind.

“It’s football. I think we showed a good performance but all in all it’s about results and even at home at the moment we have just three draws and in our situation it’s not enough to make the step. Now we can try in three more games, nine points to take and this will be what we will try.

“I don’t know what Stoke thought about the game. I think they know how strong we are at home, they know how we play. We were on the front foot, we created a lot of chances. And then they have the momentum and they use one more chance.

“But now we have two ways. We can be disappointed and take it to the next week, to the next game. Or we say, no, we do it again, we lift us and we try it again and this is what we have to do.

“I know today it’s hard to say, but this is what I will do.”

Stoke boss Steven Schumacher believes the point gained by his team could be vital.

He said: “We planned to come under the cosh. Obviously we didn’t want to be under as much pressure as we were, but credit to them. They started the game really well.

“The crowd was behind them, they had loads of crosses into the box, loads of corners and we’ve defended them really well. We’ve needed the goalkeeper. Daniel (Iversen) made a brilliant save, they hit the bar as well in that spell but we got through it and got stronger as the half went on.

“At half-time we spoke about just trying to close the distances a little bit better and try and get them under a bit more pressure, which I felt we did.

“And then we fell behind, we showed brilliant character again, changed the shape and got our fresh legs into the game when there was a bit more space and fully deserved to get something from the game. It could be a massive point.”

Struggling Sheffield Wednesday had to settle for a point after Stoke substitute Luke Cundle cancelled out Liam Palmer’s opener to earn a 1-1 draw.

The result dealt Wednesday a real blow in their bid to avoid the drop due to results elsewhere.

Marvin Johnson, Ike Ugbo and Will Vaulks were all restored to Wednesday’s starting line-up.

Stoke boss Steven Schumacher made six changes, recalling Tyrese Campbell, Mehdi Leris, Sead Haksabanovic, Ben Wilmot, Jordan Thompson and Lewis Baker.

The visitors were put under pressure from the start with Palmer the first to threaten, firing in a drive which was deflected off-target.

Ugbo then saw his effort kept out by Daniel Iversen, and Michael Ihiekwe’s header was cleared off the line by Campbell.

Michael Smith went close to breaking Stoke’s resistance when his shot struck the bar in the eighth minute.

As Wednesday continued to dominate, Pol Valentin fired over later in the half, with Stoke failing to pose a serious attacking threat during the first half.

The closest they came to a chance was in the final minute of the half when Baker’s free-kick led to a scramble in the penalty area before Wilmot put the ball wide.

The Stoke line-up showed a change at the start of the second period with Bae Jun-ho coming on in place of Haksabanovic.

The visitors were forced to make a further change just four minutes after the restart when Wouter Burger had to go off after receiving treatment, with Enda Stevens coming on in his place.

Wednesday keeper James Beadle was called into action for the first time to save Jun-ho’s long-range effort.

Beadle then made a comfortable save from Campbell’s deflected shot soon afterwards.

As Stoke looked to capitalise on their impressive start to the second half, Baker sent a free-kick a fraction wide of Beadle’s left-hand post.

The home side responded with Ihiekwe heading just wide from Vaulks’ delivery.

Midway through the second period, Wednesday manager Danny Rohl made an attacking change, with Callum Paterson taking over from Josh Windass.

The opening goal finally came in the 68th minute when Barry Bannan’s cross was headed back by Ihiekwe to Palmer, who found the net with an emphatic finish.

Cundle, who had only been on the field for a few minutes, equalised in the 76th minute. Campbell found Cundle in space on the left-hand side and he advanced into the area before slotting past Beadle.

Stoke skipper Josh Laurent then had a shot which hit the side-netting.

Jun-ho threatened late on with a goal-bound shot which struck team-mate Cundle.

Norwich boss David Wagner insisted his side were “not ruthless” enough as he saw them blow a two-goal first-half lead to draw 2-2 in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Norwich hit the front in the 11th minute when Josh Sargent tapped in at the back post and doubled their lead five minutes later when they were gifted the ball outside the box which allowed Borja Sainz to stroke it into the bottom corner.

Danny Rohl made four substitutions at the break but his Owls side missed further chances before Michael Ihiekwe’s header gave Wednesday the belief before Michael Smith nodded home with five minutes to go to rescue a much-needed point in their relegation battle as they marked their 5,000th league match.

Wagner was frustrated with his side’s inability to kill the game after and put themselves in a commanding position to strengthen their play-off bid.

He told a press conference: “We have done everything super well, we looked sharp in ball possession and out of ball possession but we didn’t kill the game.

“We were not ruthless inside the opponent’s box, we had a lot of clear-cut chances and obviously this at the end of the day has shown why we have not won the game.

“Today we have put the hard work in to collect three points but haven’t done because we could not kill the game. Especially when a team is so direct with set-pieces something can happen.

“We have not made use of our chances, this is what frustrates us and the performance the players have shown on the pitch, the commitment is good.”

The point for Norwich gives them a five-point cushion inside the play-offs but Wagner thinks his side have dropped two points from a good performance.

He added: “I would have liked to have six points (from Ipswich and Sheff Wed) after you have seen the two performances.

“But in football, you don’t always get what you wish, you get what you earn and today we only got one because we weren’t ruthless.

“We have to be more ruthless, this is what hurts. How we played, how we defended was good.”

Wednesday remain in the relegation zone only on goal difference after the draw and Rohl hailed his side’s togetherness to fight back and claim a point.

He said: “We showed again our togetherness. Not many people thought we would come back and take something but we did.

“Second half we played better, the stadium was behind us and created energy and this showed what we need in our situation.

“Today we take the point and now we have to go again Saturday. If we are over the line on the last matchday everyone will take it.

“We keep coming back and today we came back from 2-0 down, today we showed we can do this against a strong Norwich side.

“I’m happy with the point. Not happy with the first half but one key point.”

Leicester missed the chance to go four points clear at the top of the Championship after a 1-0 loss at Millwall.

Ryan Longman’s brilliant top corner finish was the difference for the Lions, who climbed into 17th.

Leicester stayed one point clear at the summit after Leeds moved into second following a goalless draw against Sunderland.

Substitute Milutin Osmajic bagged a quickfire hat-trick as Preston completed an incredible second-half comeback to beat relegation-threatened Huddersfield 4-1.

Josh Koroma handed the Terriers the lead in the 42nd minute, but Preston equalised when Will Keane levelled from the penalty spot.

Osmajic starred from the bench in the final stages, striking twice in three minutes before completing his treble in the second minute of stoppage time to snatch three points and leave Town outside the bottom three on goal difference.

Sheffield Wednesday scored two late goals to salvage a crucial point in their relegation battle after a 2-2 draw against Norwich.

The visitors struck quickly in the opening stages with Josh Sargent putting the Canaries ahead in the 11th minute before Borja Sainz doubled the advantage five minutes later.

However, Wednesday turned the game around in the final 15 minutes with Michael Ihiekwe pulling one back before Michael Smith levelled in the 85th minute to leave them alongside Huddersfield.

Fourth-placed Southampton continued their play-off push with a 2-1 win against Coventry.

Haji Wright missed a penalty for the Sky Blues in the 10th minute and Southampton struck just eight minutes later through Kyle Walker-Peters.

Che Adams doubled the lead just before the break before Jake Bidwell pulled one back for Coventry, who remain just outside the play-off places.

Plymouth earned a valuable point after drawing 1-1 with QPR.

Sam Field put the visitors ahead from a corner, but Argyle are two points above the drop zone as Albert Adomah turned the ball into his own net.

Sheffield Wednesday battled back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw with Norwich and strengthen their Sky Bet Championship survival bid.

Wednesday handed Norwich the initiative straight away and the visitors established a two-goal lead early on through Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz but the home side had James Beadle to thank for keeping the deficit at two heading into the break.

Wednesday looked more confident in the second period and Norwich were made to pay for their flurry of missed chances in the second half as two headers from Michael Ihiekwe and Michael Smith rescued an unlikely point.

Norwich were almost gifted the opening goal of the game when Marcelino Nunez latched onto to some sloppy possession at the back and took a shot but Beadle did well to parry the ball out to Ashley Barnes, who blasted wide on the rebound.

Wednesday had the warning a couple of moments ago but Norwich scored the first in the 10th minute as Sam McCallum’s throw-in was flicked on by Barnes and Sargent tapped in at the back post.

The Canaries were all over the hosts and almost doubled their lead straight away as Sainz ran through on goal and unleashed a low drive into the corner but Beadle was on hand to tip behind again.

Wednesday were making the same mistakes at the back and Norwich did not let them off the hook this time – as the home side tried to play out of the back, Nunez was gifted the ball and he fed through Sainz, who stroked home to make it 2-0.

Creators of their downfall yet again, Wednesday nearly handed Norwich a third as Sainz teed up Nunez, who sliced just wide of the post.

The Owls were lucky to be trailing by two at the break as McCallum sprung down the left and whipped a ball in, Nunez smashed over the crossbar to keep Wednesday alive, just.

The hosts made four substitutions at the break and started the second period with a little more life but the Canaries seemed keen for a third though, Jack Stacey raced beyond the back line who were expecting an offside flag that never went up, but Beadle denied Stacey to keep them in the contest.

Another couple of chances came and went for Norwich after Sainz was brought down outside the box, Nunez’s resulting free-kick was palmed away by Beadle and Gabriel Sara scuffed an effort wide a couple of moments later.

Wednesday’s best chance of the match came after Callum Paterson chased down a long ball and found himself one-on-one but could not guide his effort past Angus Gunn.

The visitors failed to put Wednesday away and they had their route back into the match after Ihiekwe nodded home from Will Vauks’ corner.

Wednesday piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser no one saw coming and they had one from yet another corner, this time Vaulks picked out Smith at the back post, who headed in to leave them in the relegation zone on goal difference.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl felt his “bold decision” to make major changes for the 2-0 win over fellow strugglers QPR paid off.

Goals from Djeidi Gassama and Anthony Musaba gave the second-from-bottom Owls a vital victory at Loftus Road in their battle against relegation from the Sky Bet Championship.

Rohl made five changes to his side in the wake of Monday’s defeat at Middlesbrough.

He said: “We changed a lot. For me it was clear after the Middlesbrough game that we could not just continue and hope something changes.

“I think some people will be surprised to see all these changes. It was a bold decision from my side. I cannot just continue and hope. I want to see a reaction and I saw a reaction.”

Wednesday failed to win any of their first 13 league matches of the season but their improvement since Rohl took over in October has given them a fighting chance of staying up.

The German said: “We played very well and did well as a team. I’m very happy. There are five games to go and we have a chance.

“Everybody was ready for this fight and that is our job. Do it – and do it until the end.

“My job and the players’ job is that we have a big party at the end of the season. Keep going and we have a big party at the end.

“It is our job and this is what I demand. With the right mindset and attitude we can do it.”

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes blamed himself for his side’s defeat.

He said: “I’m very disappointed but especially with myself. When I look at the performance, I didn’t prepare the team well enough for the kind of game that I knew it would be.

“We were not good at all. It was a bad performance. I’m disappointed not only about the result but about the game and the (lack of) quality we showed. It’s a very disappointing day.

“I take responsibility for this defeat. One result will not change my confidence in the players.”

But Cifuentes also suggested Rangers had perhaps been guilty of some complacency after recent back-to-back wins took them six points clear of the relegation zone and seemingly close to safety.

The loss leaves them just four points clear of the bottom three and very much still in trouble.

Cifuentes added: “That’s always the danger – not only in football but as human beings. Sometimes we tend to relax and those moments are very dangerous.

“When you think you are doing so well, suddenly football always gives you the reality that if you are not at 110% it’s very difficult.

“We tried during the whole week to let them understand this was a very difficult game – probably the most difficult game of the season.

“It looked like Sheffield Wednesday were playing for their lives and unfortunately I was not good enough to convince my players we needed that kind of intensity.”