Sheffield Wednesday praised: '˜Six wins in a row is something very special' - Carlos Carvalhal

Kieran Lee’s 77th-minute winner was the difference in a poor game which left Wednesday fans dreaming of a return to Wembley 12 months after losing last season’s play-off final to Hull.

Carvalhal said: “It’s something fantastic. We prepare very well for the games and this is a result of a lot of hard work. Six wins in a row is fantastic – that is something very special.

“We deserved to win today. It gives me satisfaction to see people around me happy: the chairman, the players and the fans.

“We have more points than we had last season and we are dealing with the expectations of our fans.

“This is a massive club but we can only look at ourselves. I will not think about who we might have in the semi-final or whether we might start home or away in the play-offs.”

A forgettable final match of this season at Portman Road saw both sides muster half-chances – Adam Reach for Wednesday and Ipswich’s Tom Lawrence the guilty parties in an uneventful first half.

Ross Wallace almost opened the scoring in fortuitous circumstances in the 49th minute when his speculative long-range shot slipped out of Bartosz Bialkowski’s hands but came back off the inside of a post.

Substitute Dominic Samuel could not direct his far-post header on target for the hosts before Wednesday took a deserved lead 13 minutes from time.

Man-of-the-match Barry Bannan teed up Daniel Pudil, whose low cross was smartly turned in by Lee.

The defeat, and performance, was in keeping with much of Ipswich’s below-par season with some fans once again directing their anger at manager Mick McCarthy.

After taking part in a ‘lap of applause’ in front of the minority of supporters who remained after the final whistle, McCarthy said: “It was always going to be like that if we lost. We haven’t been good enough at home and we haven’t entertained our fans enough so I do understand that. It is a shame we didn’t go out on a high but they had the edge on us.”

Ipswich Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers, Berra, Kenlock, Skuse, Huws, Ward (Samuel 69), Sears (Moore 85), Lawrence (Rowe 64), McGoldrick. Unused substitutes: Gerken, Pitman, Dozzell, Emmanuel.

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Lees, Loovens, Pudil, Wallace (Forestieri 69), Lee, Bannan, Reach, Fletcher (Rhodes 69), Hooper (Semedo 80). Unused substitutes: Wildsmith, McManaman, Sasso, Nuhiu.

Referee: J Adcock (Nottinghamshire).