Blackburn Rovers 1 Sheffield Wednesday 3: Owls get their lucky break to finally leave Championship relegation zone

For the second time in the match, the Owls had lost a centre-back through injury, Michael Ihiekwe's replacement Bambo Diaby smashing his nose trying to head his team back in front for a second time.

Eight minutes later, as Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Aynsley Pears sliced an innocuous Dom Hyam backpass into his own net to put the visitors 3-1 up, no one in the packed away end was complaining about bad luck.

That is the thing when managers and players complain about misfortune: over the course of a 46-game season, you end up where you deserve to be.

With 44 matches crossed off, Wednesday have finally got their head above the relegation dotted line – holding onto their 3-1 lead to scramble out of the bottom three for the first time since the first full week when they were out on the technicality of having lost their first game less badly than others.

Of course the 7,231 away fans sang “We are staying up” at the final whistle but do you know what? They might just be right.

Blackburn, still just about in range of Huddersfield Town, will be stunned as to how it happened but whilst they faffed about, Wednesday got on with what football is all about – scoring goals.

Rovers are feeling the pressure at a time of the footballing year when it is all about keeping your cool. When Wednesday’s relegation rivals were playing on Saturday afternoon, manager Danny Rohl was snoozing on the team bus.

His players had a bit more zest about them, but the ruthlessness they needed in the moments that mattered. Blackburn lost their heads and the game.

The Owls set the ball rolling in an exhilarating start to the game.

Josh Windass' touch back allowed the hosts to break from a sixth-minute corner, only for Barry Bannan to rescue them with an excellent slide tackle on Callum Brittain in front of an away end George Byers, on loan at Blackpool, was sat in.

Play ping-ponged back and when Pears came out of his area to head the ball clear to the touchline, Anthony Musaba won it back. As the ball came loose, Windass put the bouncing ball into the net from around 35 yards.

The lead lasted all of three minutes, former Barnsley player Brittain undoing them with a straight volleyed pass from one side of the centre circle to the other. Sammie Szmodics did the rest.

As the game settled down Wednesday became wasteful in possession and unable to make it stick up front, Blackburn far more comfortable on the ball but unable to hurt their hosts with it.

Windass missed a much easier – albeit not easy – chance to put his side in front again.

Musaba got the ball across from the right, Ike Ugbo was unable to get on the end of it and with a defender blocking his view, Windass almost fell onto it and stabbed wide of an empty net. It felt like a great opportunity, as did the one Liam Palmer put over the bar when Marvin Johnson robbed Hayden Carter of the ball and pulled it back to him at the edge of the area.

Szmodics had another chance from another straight ball before the break, Michael Ihiekwe's replacement Bambo Diaby catching him and putting him under pressure before James Beadle, off his line, saved.

Diaby's four minutes or so of treatment ought to have sucked momentum out of the early second half but it was just about to go bang.

Very quickly after he came off, clutching a tissue to his nose, Will Vaulks thundered into a tackle which left him needing treatment, Ugbo released Musaba to slide the ball to Johnson, at the back of a long queue to put his side in front.

Then came former Middlesbrough goalkeeper Pears' horror moment with the only blue-and-white shirts near him in the Darwen End behind him.

His save after Djeidi Gassama muscled his way through in the 83rd minute was consolation so scant as to be indecent.

Two games to go and the escape is well and truly on.

Blackburn Rovers: Pears; Carter, Hyam, S Wharton (Markanday 75); Brittain, Tronstad (Buckley 67), Rankin-Costello (Ayari 84), Pickering (Moran 84); Szmodics; Gallagher, Dolan (Chrisene 84). Unused substitutes: Wahlstedt, Koumetio, Telalovic, McFadzean.

Sheffield Wednesday: Beadle; Palmer, Ihiekwe (B Diaby 15 (Iorfa 56)), Famewo; Valentín, Vaulks, Bannan, Johnson; Windass (Paterson 79), Ugbo (Smith 79), Musaba (Gassama 79). Unused substitutes: Dawson, Pedersen, Hendrick, Cadamarteri.

Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire).