A superior goal difference saw Wednesday retain fourth place on the final day of the Championship season and so secure a two-legged play-off semi final clash with Huddersfield.
A much-changed Wednesday went down 2-1 at home to Fulham while fifth-placed Huddersfield lost 3-0 to Cardiff, so we both remained on 81 points after the final games but with ourselves boasting a superior goal difference of 17 over the Terriers.
It also means we play the semi-final first leg away from home – at noon on Sunday May 14 – and have the second leg at Hillsborough on the following Wednesday (May 17), kick off 7.45pm.
With the upcoming play-offs in mind, Carlos Carvalhal made 10 changes for the Fulham game but we began well and took the lead on nine minutes when Sam Winnall slotted home.
However, Fulham began to gain the upper hand with their passing game and the unmarked Neeskens Kebano fired them level on 25 minutes.
Marco Matias was then shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Sone Aluko just before the break and that made our task even greater after the interval.
The Wednesday goal led a charmed life, with the woodwork twice coming to our rescue as Fulham continued to dominate with their possession football, and Kebano grabbed the winner 11 minutes from time when he turned the ball home from close range.
Carlos Carvalhal said the scoreline was not important against Fulham, making the changes to partly give squad players the opportunity for first team match action and also to protect those first-teamers carrying injuries and others from possible red cards and suspensions.
He said: “It is our priority to try and protect players in terms of injuries and red cards for the play-offs – that is a priority. I would be a very stupid person to lose three or four players in a game that doesn’t matter and not have them for the play-off semi-final.”