Early season worries as Wednesday lose to Wolves

We're only into week two of the new season so it would be unrational to call it an early season crisis but after two league games, seven goals conceded, zero points and bottom of the table things do not seem as they should be. A 3-1 defeat in the opening home match of the campaign to Wolverhampton Wanderers is the first time in eight years Wednesday have lost both of their opening league fixtures.

A 3-1 win at Milmoor in the League Cup in midweek may have lifted spirits after a dismal 4-1 results at Ipswich on the opening day, followed by the departure of star winger Chris Brunt, but Brian Laws clearly has work to do after watching his side lose despite having more possession and almost three times as many efforts on goal.

The focus all pre-season has been on attaining a top quality striker, finally in the shape of Francis Jeffers, but it appears to be at the back that Wednesday are struggling most. Seven goals conceded in two league games suggests further additions to the squad may be needed in that department.

The game was delayed by 15 minutes due to heavy traffic on the M1, and it was the Wednesday defence who appeared to show up late too as for the second successive league game they conceded early on. Andy Keogh raced into the Wednesday penalty area from the right and blasted a shot that Lee Grant could only palm into the path of new Wolves signing Freddie Eastwood, who made no mistake from close range.

Things went from bad to worse six minutes later when Jeffers, making his Hillsborough debut, hobbled off with the reoccurence of the calf strain that kept him out of the Rotherham match on Thursday. Certainly not what everyone had hoped to see from the £700,000 new recruit. Former Wolves boy Leon Clarke replaced him upfront with Deon Burton.

Wednesday equalised on the stroke of half-time when a Glenn Whelan corner found its way to Wade Small who, despite a hand ball from Michael Gray, found the back of the net. Gray was lucky to have only received a yellow card for his deliberate attempt to stop the ball crossing the line, had Small not scored it would have surely been an early bath.

Just like in the first half The Owls were slow out of the blocks for the second period, and it resulted in Wolves regaining the lead. Danger man Eastwood spun on the ball on the edge of the box and picked out Michael Kightly who drove the ball home despite Grant getting a touch.

It was a body blow for Wednesday who never recovered. Jermaine Johnson almost copied Small's midweek effort of accidentally converting a cross, but this time the cross bar intervened. There were further injury worries to contend with when Whelan hobbled off with a groin strain but the final blow was a third goal for the visitors in injury time.

Substitute Jay Bothroyd, who had replaced Eastwood with only three minutes remaining, had the final say as his goal condemned Wednesday to defeat. Three strikes on goal and three goals means Laws has work to do before next Saturday's tricky away trip to London to face Madjid Bougherra and Charlton Athletic.

Laws verdict: "There is a great deal of effort being put in by the players and 3-1 didn't reflect the game itself. In the first half we had 12 shots at their goal compared to their two. I thought we were the better side, looked dangerous and created a lot." "In the second half it was important that we wanted to keep it tight and step up another gear, but the second goal gave us a kick in the backside." "There are positives to take but we also know where our problems are too. We need to sort that out, we can't ship in goals like that."