Rotherham United 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Fletcher's double has wobbling Owls back on track against Millers

Otherwise, the Portuguese, under pressure after a troubling few weeks for his expensively assembled side, enjoyed a comfortable evening at the New York Stadium as the Owls got their play-off challenge back on track.

A first-half double from Steven Fletcher, which ended a 14-game goal famine stretching back to his last-minute winner from the penalty spot against Rotherham United at Hillsborough in December, ensured the potential banana skin of tackling an already relegated neighbour was neatly side-stepped by the Owls.

In taking his goal tally for the season to nine, the Scot also nudged Wednesday back into the top six at the expense of Fulham.

Leeds United’s defeat at Brentford brought further cheer to the visitors and their 2,573 fans, who have not tasted defeat in Rotherham for 11 visits in a run stretching back to 1976.

As for the Millers, this was another case of ‘what if?’ in a season that long ago took on nightmare proportions.

An inability to capitalise when on top in the first half combined with some shoddy defending at vital moments again cost United dear en route to their 31st league defeat of a sorry campaign.

Blaming Paul Warne for the club’s sorry plight would be wrong. The interim appointment of the club’s fitness coach was simply too late to make any difference to what was already a sinking ship following the considerable damage inflicted by Alan Stubbs and then Kenny Jackett’s failure to stick around long enough to start the recovery job.

This said, if Warne is to get the job permanently next season – and an announcement is due today – then the onus is very much on him to rebuild. It will not be an easy job.

As for Wednesday, it is the Premier League and not League One firing minds right now despite performances having failed to reach the heights of last season.

During the build-up to tackling the Millers, Carvalhal had used a cooking analogy to explain this dip in form. Injuries to key creative personnel, the Portuguese reasoned, meant a situation akin to a cook being asked to create a fine meal with just potatoes, rice and tomatoes, but no fish.

Well, there was something decidedly fishy about Wednesday’s opening goal last night. When Ross Wallace attempted to thread a pass through to Fletcher, the Scot was standing two yards offside. The flag, though, stayed firmly by the linesman’s side. In the official’s defence, he may have thought Gary Hooper got a touch on Wallace’s pass that, due to a defender having retreated those couple of yards in the meantime, suddenly meant the Scottish international was onside.

Either way, Fletcher was in no mood to hang around and finished with aplomb past Lewis Price.

United protested in vain but they could have few complaints when the visitors doubled their advantage a minute before the break. Fletcher was again the man to inflict the damage, the Scot rising high above his marker to power a header beyond Price.

For Rotherham, it was a familiar sinking feeling after what had been an otherwise encouraging first half.

Good chances had been created and, with steadier finishing, it could have been the Millers who went in ahead at the break.

Jon Taylor and Carlton Morris were culpable of squandering the best two opportunities.

First, Taylor fired wide following a cheeky backheel from Morris, who later could only head tamely at Keiren Westwood from close range after being found unmarked by Danny Ward.

Richard Wood and Ward also warmed the hands of Westwood during those opening 45 minutes but, once Fletcher had doubled the visitors lead, there was no way back for Warne’s men.

As a result, the game rather petered out and the biggest cheer of the second half came after the stadium announcer had mistakenly announced the Owls were making a change when it was Alex Bray coming off the bench for the Millers. ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ sang the away end.

The home fans may have arrived at the New York Stadium last night hoping to chant the same ditty at Carvalhal come the final whistle, but Fletcher ensured it was a happy trip home for the likeable Portuguese.

Rotherham United: Price; Fisher, Ajayi, Wood, Mattock; Taylor (Clarke-Harris 68), Smallwood (Bray 85), Vaulks, Newell; Morris (Forde 81), Ward. Unused substitutes: O’Donnell, Belaid, Purrington, Yates.

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood; Hunt, Lees, Loovens, Reach; Wallace, Jones, Bannan; Hooper (Semedo 60)), Fletcher (Nuhiu 73), Rhodes (Winnall 83). Unused substitutes: Wildsmith, McManaman, Palmer, Pudil.

Referee: T Harrington (Cleveland).