It was always going to be one of the Owls’ biggest challenges of the season so far, and it certainly proved to be the case. Kieran Morrison was replaced by Davis Keillor-Dunn in the starting XI, and Ali Al-Hamadi missed out due to injury with Jaden Heskey taking his place on the bench.
The early stages of the game were untidy, with neither side really able to take control of things as both teams were lax in possession and gave the ball away far too cheaply.
It was Stockport who came to terms with things quicker, though, and started to knock the ball about nicely. An early chance fell the way of Harry Wood after Joe Lumley parried the ball into his path, but he couldn’t connect properly with the ball and blazed it over the bar. It was the first warning shot for Wednesday.
Another came shortly after. First it was Ryan Glover, who saw his header bounce off the upright, and then Ricardo Santos was on hand to clear Jack Diamond’s follow-up effort off the line. The home side were riding their luck.
Reece James was booked for a high challenge, Mason Burstow saw a header saved by Oliver Whatmuff, and Liam Cooper pulled off an excellent sliding tackle to stop the visitors getting a shot off as we approached half-time.
Wednesday improved in the final 10 minutes or so, but not by much. And they went into the break possibly a bit lucky to still be level.
It felt like the Owls were screaming out for a bit more width, for someone like Harry Gray or Morrison, but there were no changes as they came out for second stanza.
It didn’t take long for alterations, however, with Henrik Pedersen’s side still struggling to make much headway. Mason Burstow was almost found in the six-yard box by Keillor-Dunn, but the ball was behind him… Gray came on shortly afterwards to replace him.
A second change wasn’t far away, either, although DKD’s departure seemed to be a forced one after he seemed to be feeling the back of his leg. Morrison was the one who came on, and things did seem to improve in terms of the Owls’ attacking input.
Still the goals eluded the game, though, with Glover going the closest as his looping header landed on the roof of the net. Ricardo Santos seemed to signal to the bench that he’d run his race after a sliding block, and a double substitution was the reaction. Gabriel Otegbayo and Jaden Heskey replaced the centre back and Barry Bannan. Cooper took the armband.
Seven minutes were added on, but it was hard to see where a goal was coming from. 32,290 fans had turned up at Hillsborough to cheer on their team, but all left disappointed.
Bookings for Cooper and Yan Valery meant that three of the Owls’ back four would end the game with cautions - and with more cards than shots on target for the hosts. The boos at the final whistle were a clear message that Wednesdayites want to see more.
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Was turgid. Team setup was wrong from start. Bannan didn't do enough last week to start this week and he had less of an impact today. Id rather have had Heskey today.
I am not sure we have a plan to win football matches. If we did, Morrison and Gray would not start on the bench.