Wednesday 0-2 Wolves

Wednesday's run of six games without a goal was extended tonight after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Wolves.

Goals from Darren Anderton and Kenny Miller were enough for the visitors, who piled more festive woe on Wednesday, who have now gone seven games without a goal, and nine games without a championship victory.

Paul Sturrock kept with youngster Barry Corr up front, partnering David Graham. Top scorer Chris Brunt remained on the bench with Burton O'Brien on the left side of midfield.

Wolves boss Glenn Hoddle made changes following his side's dissapointing home defeat to Reading on Boxing Day, with Jody Craddock returning to the defence. George Ndah and Colin Cameron also returned to the side.

Promotion chasing Wanderers started the stronger of the two teams, when a Joleon Lescott header was cleared off ther line by Steve Adams in the early stages. The visitors had a number of early corner kicks.

Wednesday had some early half chances of their own though, with Graham Coughlan heading over from a Chris Eagles corner. Barry Corr almost got on to the end of a David Graham mis-shot minutes later which was intercepted by the dominant Lescott.

At the other end George Ndah went on a mazy run which resulted in him being upended on the edge of the box by Burton O'Brien. Lee Naylor's resulting free-kick was well blocked by the Wednesday wall.

Wednesday were giving as much as they were getting at this stage. A Graham Coughlan header was punched clear by Posta in the Wolves goal, only for Chris Eagles follow-up shot to go wide.

Wanderers took the lead on 34 minutes thanks to a drive from veteran midfielder Darren Anderton. A cross from left-back Lee Naylor found Vio Ganea who deflected the ball in to the path of Anderton to smashed the ball in to the back of Nicky Weaver's goal.

The goal prompted Wednesday in to the best spell of the game and Wolves were forced to defend in numbers.

Chris Eagles twice had shots well blocked by the Wolves defence, and Glenn Whelen had a shot brilliantly saved by Postma. The resulting corner found the head of Graham Coughlan, who's header crashed against the visitors goal. It seemed like that goal for the Owls was never going to come.

As the half time whistle went, Wolves went in to the break with a deserved lead.

Sturrock made his first change of the match in the 53rd minute when Chris Brunt came on to replace Steve Adams, who was carrying a knock going in to the game. It was a case of 'better late than never' for Wednesday fans, who were previously calling up the local radio phone-in grumbling about the Northern Irish international being dropped to the bench.

Brunt nearly made an instant impact when he raced down the left-wing. His pacey low cross was a dangerous one, but none of the Owls forwards managed to get on the end of it. He also saw a free-kick from the edge of the box drift just over the bar.

Although not creating any clear cut chances, Wednesday looked as if they could somehow get a point from the game.

On-loan Peter Gilbert was involved in a late challenge which saw George Ndah stretchered off. Glenn Hoddle brought on Kenny Miller - a luxury which Paul Sturrock could only dream of.

Sturrock made his second change of the game on the 63rd minute when Lee Peacock was brought on to replace Corr who recieved applause from the Hillsborough faithful.

Just minutes later though, Wolves put the game beyond the reach of Wednesday thanks to a defensive error that could be better placed on a Sunday League pitch.

Peter Gilbert and Nicky Weaver hesitated over a ball in the Owls box and substitute Kenny Miller pounced to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

The scoreline could have been much worse for the Owls, but the on-loan Nicky Weaver made two good stops from Ganea and Miller.

Graham Coughlan

Not a night when star players were plentyful, but the former Plymouth Argyle defender put in another solid performance for Wednesday, only to be let down by his collegues.
The on-loan City keeper's hesitation gave Wolves their killer second goal. Not his best game for the Owls, still gave 100%. Involved in the mix-up for the second goal. Gave his usual 110% and more. The best wednesday player on the pitch - as per usual! Looking solid at the back alongside Coughlan. Another poor performance from the Owls captain - maybe it's time to give him a rest. Only managed 53 minutes due to carrying a knock going in to the game. Did very little. Time for Brunt to come back in to the team. On this form the on-loan Manchester United winger will be returning to Old Trafford in the next few weeks. His height caused a few problems in the Wolves defence, but never looked like scoring. Still a long way to go. Never looked like hitting the back of the net. Got an ironic cheer when he left the pitch. Didn't do much - looked to be carrying an injury. Didn't have much time to impress - but staked his claim for a starting place at Burnley.
''We've learned how to lose, sometimes gracefully, so we've got to learn how to start winning again.

'Certain players now aren't taking the responsibility. We can say about lady luck, but there are people out there who aren't going in where it hurts.

'We've got to battle even harder to get that elusive goal and win.'
''We really let ourselves down against Reading on Boxing Day and I asked the players to respond in a positive way.

'We upped the work rate and got our just reward. It was about the result and starting on another run.'

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