Owls a point closer to safety

The Owls earnt another point towards safety over promotion pushers Crystal Palace. Owls gaffer Paul Sturrock will have been happy to have taken something from the game but at the same time it could have easily been an extra two points if his players had shown a little more composure in front of goal.

On loan striker Leon Best was certainly guilty of wasting a few chances. The 19 year old Southampton forward came on off the bench for Deon Burton shortly before the break and was presented with several good chances to score, taking none of them. The first of those was with his very first touch of the ball. After running onto a through ball from Lee Bullen the youngster lofted his shot over Palace keeper Kiraly but wide of the post.

Before that Palace had threatened at the other end when England striker Andy Johnson broke away from his man before putting the ball on a plate for his Scottish partner Doug Freedman, who in turn appeared to scuff his shot into the ground before the on rushing Chris Adamson, making his first appearance for almost a year in David Lucas' absence, made the vital block.

Wednesday had gone close on a number of occasions early on too. Chris Brunt's wicked left foot corner nearly found it's way directly into the net, whilst from the other end a Lee Bullen corner found defender Richard Wood in space. But the ball took the young Owls defender by suprise and his effort ballooned over.

Half-time: Owls 0-0 Palace

Both teams started the second half with fresh legs on the park, both pressing for the game's elusive first goal.

Leon Best fired tamely into the keepers hands much to his own surprise at not being blown up for offside. In the 70th minute Steven MacLean was introduced to the game, the first sight of first team football for MacLean since the Play-Off final in May. With Deon Burton having suffered a hamstring strain it could mean MacLean will start in the midweek match at Coventry City.

There were no goals to be found in this one. Amazingly that's four games in a row against Crystal Palace the Owls have failed to score in.

Paul Sturrock's post match comments:
"With the disruption with the flu, injuries and suspensions, if somebody had offered me a point at the start of the day I would have taken it. But by the end of the day we were disappointed we didn't nick something. We had to cancel training on Friday and sent home anyone with symptoms, we couldn't afford to train in case we picked up injuries."