Sheffield Wednesday's loss to Wrexham felt somewhat inevitable - but there was something to cling to
There was an air of inevitability about Wrexham’s winner against Sheffield Wednesday.
It came just before the hour mark and was the culmination of almost complete Wrexham control.
However, that was not the only reason it felt like a foregone conclusion. At Hillsborough, it is simply what the home supporters have become accustomed to.
When Sam Smith bundled home the decisive goal to seal a 1-0 win, it was just another slap on badly marked Wednesday faces. At the end of a week in which club legend Barry Bannan sought pastures new, the truth is that fans did not expect much more.
The Owls, still without new owners months on from Dejphon Chansiri’s removal, are freefalling towards League One with no realistic chance of their fall being broken.
What is a beleaguered manager to do?
Henrik Pedersen, to his credit, speaks about games becoming increasingly close to being complete dead rubbers with infectious enthusiasm.
However, his players did give him something to cling on to against a Wrexham side flush with transfer funds.
Attacking intent
Flexing creative muscles when your back is against the wall is no mean feat, but the Owls did some threatening of their own.
“The difference from the other games is we started to create something in this game and again, from a high-pressing situation,” said Pedersen. “We had set-pieces and they had the save on the line, where we also could have scored.
“In the general picture, we competed very well and had more threat going forward, we had more situations on the ball, where we had more players high up.”
It is - at the very least - something. Merely a glimmer of hope, something flimsy to cling on to? Perhaps. But Wednesday fans need reasons to keep enduring these 90-minute long tests of patience.
Wednesday were ill-equipped for the visit of an ambitious Wrexham and there is every chance they could be depleted further by the time the transfer window shuts.
Transfer uncertainty
The fixture played out against the backdrop of intense speculation swirling around some of the more heavily relied-upon members of the squad.
Pedersen could not offer assurances over the futures of Svante Ingelsson and Bailey Cadamarteri post-match but was visibly relieved there had been no half-hearted shifts indicative of an imminent goodbye.
“We could have had a situation where players could not play, would not tackle, because of a lot of questions,” Pedersen said. “But today, all the players showed a big, big heart for Sheffield Wednesday.
"We have a strong, strong culture. Without a strong culture, without strong ideas, we cannot make the result just from individual performance, and how the boys do this is great.”
Fans need something to cling on to and at the moment, heart and attacking intent is just about the best the Owls can strive for.
Sheffield Wednesday: M. Cooper, Palmer, Otegbayo, L. Cooper; Valery, Heskey, Ingelsson, Johnson (Thornton 75); Cadamarteri, Yates (McNeill 68), Lowe (Fernandes 88).
Unused substitutes: Phillips, McGhee, Emery, Shipston, Kobacki, Moses.
Wrexham: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Kabore, James, Sheaf (Dobson 88), Cacace, Windass (Rathbone 78), Smith (Moore 78), Broadhead (O’Brien 78).
Unused substitutes: Burton, Scarr, Thomason, Longman, Rodriguez.
Referee: David Webb (County Durham)