Tom Lees voiced his frustrations after seeing Wednesday blow the opportunity to defeat rivals Brighton – and leave our automatic promotion ambitions hanging by a very thin thread – on Friday night.
Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, Lees reflected on how Wednesday got themselves firmly in the driving seat in the second half but contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, after Brighton were reduced to 10 men midway through the half and Fernando Forestieri missed the resulting penalty.
Lees said: “After the penalty it was just a disaster really.
“Big teams don’t do what we have done tonight and we’ve been punished. That’s why we are sixth, that’s why we’re in the play-offs, why we’re not up in the automatics.
“If that situation had been on the other foot there is no chance Brighton would have done what we did.”
The central defender said: “It was a massively frustrating night. Everyone will be kicking themselves and we know we have thrown a big chance away.
“It was not only missing a chance to beat them but, more importantly, missing a chance to get close to them because we would have been right up there if we had won tonight.
“And you’re not going to get a better chance to beat them than tonight.”
Victory would have taken us to within six points of Brighton, who went to the top of the table after the win, but the gap is now 12 points and it will take a great run of results from Wednesday to give us any chance of bridging the gap to earn an automatic promotion place in the coming months
Lees agreed there is now an awful lot to do to win that automatic spot but said it is down to the side to get back on another good run and see where it takes us.