Potter pleading for better luck after failing to see out victory

After yesterday's Hillsborough draw, Wednesday need to pick up points in their final two games of the season, away at Cardiff on Saturday before Crystal Palace arrive on May 2.

But Potter, who scored his third goal of the season to give the Owls a first-half lead in the Steel City derby, believes Wednesday have not had the rub of the green.

The Owls looked set for a win away at Coventry before a rare mistake from goalkeeper Lee Grant allowed Richard Wood to snatch an equaliser, and they should have got a point last week but Scott McDonald's shot took a wicked deflection to earn Middlesbrough all three points.

Yesterday it was the turn of Blades midfielder Lee Williamson to rub salt in the wounds, as his free-kick looked to be floating wide before it clipped the inside of Grant's left-hand post and bounced into the net.

"We are very disappointed, it's definitely two points dropped for us," said Potter. "We felt coming in at half-time that we had the game pretty much under control.

"It was a scrappy affair, typical derby, didn't really settle down and not a lot of football was being played.

"At 1-0 at half-time we were sitting comfortable, but to be fair the gaffer has warned us about giving away too many silly free-kicks and we gave away one too many and it has cost us. Williamson was trying to cross it into the box, there's no doubt about that, but at the end of the day it's ended up in the back of the net so he has every right to wheel away and celebrate.

"It's typical of our luck. You look at the last three games, going back to Coventry, that was a really poor goal to give away from our point of view. Middlesbrough last week was a major deflection and then today.

"It sounds like I'm moaning about our luck, but that's just the way it has gone for us. When you are down there that's what happens. We actually played well in those three games, including today, when we have done enough – certainly against Coventry – to have won the game and against Middlesbrough in the first half we were superb. Today we have really got the game under control, not much danger, until the goal.

"It was a typical derby game, emotions are running high and people don't want to make mistakes. Plenty of tackles were flying in, trying to put pressure on the other team.

"But we are really disappointed not to have come away with the win."