A weakened Wednesday side went down to a goal inside the first minute against promotion-chasing Middlesbrough at the Riverside this afternoon.
Carlos Carvalhal decided to make six changes to the side that beat Birmingham two days earlier, having spoken beforehand about the unfairness of Wednesday having to play so quickly after the Boxing Day win while Boro had the day off as their game was postponed.
And it took just 44 seconds for Boro to take advantage of our changes, recalled Rhoys Wiggins allowing Cristhian Stuani to steal in front of him to score the decisive goal from close range.
At the other end, Wednesday failed to trouble Boro keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos in the first half and we looked happy to get to the interval with just a one-goal deficit.
However, the introduction of Fernando Forestieri at half-time had the desired effect with the striker inspiring Wednesday to a much-improved second-half display.
While Konstantopoulos was hardly called on to make a save, the Owls dominated much of the second 45 minutes and caused Boro problems, with Daniel Pudil twice going close from corners
And that left many Wednesday fans rueing Carvalhal’s decision to make so many changes to the starting line-up.
Second string full backs Liam Palmer and Wiggins struggled to adjust to the pace of the game while Modou Sougou once again had no influence on the 90 minutes … and all this while Forestieri sat out the first 45 minutes and regular first teamers Jack Hunt, Ross Wallace and Pudil were only on the bench.