Matt Hamshaw spoke of a “frustrating” evening at Hillsborough as Wednesday were held to a 1-1 draw by Cambridge United in his first match as interim manager last night.

We began sluggishly with the Owls looked nervy and lacking in confidence following two away defeats and then the departure of Henrik Pedersen.

We gradually found our way into the game and our best move of the first 45 minutes came on the half-hour mark when Mason Burstow flicked on a cross from Reece James and a stretching Harry Gray steered just wide at the far post.

However, we did break the deadlock five minutes into the second half when Callum Slattery sent Burstow clear and he smashed the ball home via the inside of the near post and in front of the Kop.

The goal sparked Wednesday’s best spell of the match, Davis Keillor-Dunn just off target, before arguably the turning point in the game.

With the Owls continuing to move forward with far more confidence, a second goal looked a certainty when James’ cross found Burstow but keeper Jake Eastwood somehow kept out the striker’s close-range effort with a tremendous point-blank save.

And five minutes later, Cambridge were level when they counter attacked down the left before sub Sullay Kaikai hammered into the corner of the net from just outside the box.

Barry Bannan was within inches of putting us back in front when his long-range curler came back off the post and it was Cambridge who almost grabbed a winner in the closing stages, Ashley Maynard-Brewer and defenders blocking efforts in a chaotic goalmouth scramble to preserve a point for the Owls.

Hamshaw said: “Frustrating, I think, is the key word. I felt in the first 10 to 15 minutes we weren’t good enough. We were too lethargic really, putting our foot on the ball at the back and not stepping in. That wasn’t the message to the players when we went out there.

“And then I thought for half an hour after that, we looked okay.

“Second half we came out and looked much more of a threat, Mason got his goal and we had a number of balls that flashed across the box but we needed better numbers in there.

“The key moment was their keeper’s save at 1-0. If that goes in it’s 2-0 and you could arguably say that’s game over.

“I’m disappointed with their goal. I thought we should have handled it better at the edge of the box. I think at this moment, as always, it’s frustration because we wanted three points tonight.”

Hamshaw wants to see Wednesday more on the front foot, saying: “We want to get the ball forward and have bit more of a threat. I thought we did at times, but again, a bit inconsistent in those areas.

“I’d also like to see people getting at the opposition a bit more when we get one-on-ones, rather than getting the ball and playing backwards.”

Maynard-Brewer; Valery (Palmer 82), Weaver (Swinkels 90), M. Lowe, James; Mitchell, Bannan (Al-Hamadi 82); Slattery, Keillor-Dunn, Gray (Morrison 74); Burstow. Unused subs: Trueman, Fusire, Grainger. Attendance: 30,701.