A view from the North East Corner

Vital Wednesday blogger Chris Mace offers up some perspective after the result at Colchester on Saturday and reflects on the Owls' season going into the final three matches.

Let`s face it; we were all gutted after the draw with Colchester because it makes automatic promotion almost out of reach.

After weeks and weeks of superb results and a tight battle with our neighbours, the race seems all but over - gaining 5 points on them with 3 games to play will more than likely be too much to ask. Ordinarily, a draw away at Colchester would be a pretty decent result, but expectations have been so high due to our recent run that just a point is a disappointment. I didn`t travel to Colchester, but on all accounts we had enough possession and chances on goal to win the game, it just wasn`t quite our day.

After the game I did something I`ve purposely avoided doing all year. I added the play off dates to my calendar.

Should we be disappointed?

With the way we`ve been playing since Jones took over, we certainly deserve to go up, but over the course of the whole season, I can`t help feeling that the old cliché that 'the table doesn`t lie` is true at that we deserve third place.

Those silly dropped points in the last five minutes of games, and poor away performances (more often than not on cold Tuesday nights!) have come back to haunt us. Over the course of the whole season, the two teams above us have been more consistent and have done the business when it mattered. It`s just unfortunate that one of those two teams is, shall we say, local; and that we might not hear the end of it.

However you look at it though, it has been an incredible season to follow the Owls this year. Our home record is even better than the legendary 1991-2 season when we finished 3rd in the old First Division. We`ve not been this good at Hillsborough since the 1983-4 season when Wilkinson guided us back to the top flight. There`s a very reasonable chance that we`ll finish on over 90 points, something that we have never done (although it was almost impossible before 1981 when 3 points for a win was introduced).

Expectation is a funny thing in Football. Our West Yorkshire neighbours in Huddersfield have seemingly had a good season and will finish in the play-offs with a reasonable shot at it - but if you talk to any Town fans they`re absolutely gutted - they expected to win the league this year. Why else would they dispense with their manager after just 3 defeats all season?

I hope that as Wednesday fans we`ve watched enough rubbish over the last 10-15 years to really appreciate how good this season has been. Obviously I`d much rather go up automatically, but whether it`s at Wembley or on the final day at home to Wycombe, we need to cap off what has been a brilliant season with promotion back to the Championship.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.