Ian Poveda makes swift impact after swapping promotion race at Leeds United for Sheffield Wednesday's relegation fight

The 24-year-old Colombian could have been forgiven for sitting at Elland Road and riding the promotion bandwagon as Leeds chase a return to join football’s elite.

But with his Whites contract set to expire this summer – and having only made 10 appearances in all competitions for Leeds this campaign – London-born Poveda was just desperate to play football and jumped at the chance to head out on loan and make the short trip down the M1 to Hillsborough.

And he celebrated his first start in the blue and white stripes – on his 24th birthday – with a man-of-the-match display in Friday night’s 2-0 win over Birmingham City at Hillsborough.

He bamboozled the Blues defence with his trickery to set-up Ike Ugbo’s first-half opener, and his willingness to dribble and create was something Wednesday have sorely missed this season.

But it was also Poveda’s work off the ball, closing down opponents and getting tackles in, which also impressed as Ugbo rose highest at the far post to head home Marvin Johnson’s deep cross to clinch a vital three points.

Owls manager Roll revealed Poveda “was on fire to come here” despite Wednesday having languished in the relegation zone all season.

The weekend’s results leave Wednesday five points adrift of safety ahead of Tuesday night’s daunting trip to runaway Championship leaders Leicester City.

“When I think back to the first meeting with him, I saw his eyes shone he spoke about football, and when he spoke about what I can do for him, which position I want to have him because I see his strength,” said Rohl

“He was immediately open-minded, he was on fire to come here. For some players it was not the easiest decision. To come to the bottom of the league, it’s different than playing for Leeds and (looking for) promotion.

“I was immediately convinced by this and it gave me a really good feeling. He made a good impact, a new weapon, and this is what we need in our situation.”

Poveda’s potential is obvious, having come through the youth systems at Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Barcelona.

But the forward needs regular football and has quickly won over team-mates and Owls supporters.

“Excellent work, he has shown his qualities today,” explained Ugbo, himself a January transfer window arrival. “He did all the work for me. You can see (his quality) in training, we link up well. I think it was a good team performance. After two losses, we needed to show what we can do and get the three points.”

The goals were Ugbo’s first for Wednesday, after coming close several times in previous games to open his account.

“After hitting the post twice (in previous games) I had confidence in myself that one of those was going to go in,” Ugbo, 25, said. “I am happy for myself and for the team to get the three points.

“The first goal is always the hardest goal. Now we can just focus on going again against Leicester.”

After a six-game winless run, victory was a welcome relief for Rohl.

“I am not speaking about momentum, I am speaking about three points, for me it was a first cup final,” said Rohl.

“We know exactly our situation, we know everyone has to be in one direction and if we do this we can be strong and have a chance. But we have to be fighting for 15 games.”