Jones: Our fans can lift us as they did last year

Yet that is the scenario that could unfold tomorrow if the Owls lose to Middlesbrough and Barnsley and Peterborough United win.

Even a draw might not be good enough for Wednesday, who have had four chances to guarantee their safety in recent weeks, squandering them all.

Jones’s side lost at Leeds United then drew at Blackpool before a vital point against Ipswich Town was followed by last week’s reverse at Peterborough.

Had Wednesday won that game, they and Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield would already be safe, with Barnsley just needing a point to ensure their own survival.

As it is, that 1-0 loss at London Road means Wednesday are one of six teams going into the final day with their future uncertain, although second-bottom Wolves are three points adrift and in need of an amazing set of results.

Asked if he feared the drop, the Owls boss said: “No, not at all.

“We’re not even thinking about that, what we’re thinking about is what we’ve been doing all season, thinking positively.

“I believe we will be a Championship club at the end of the game. Everybody has worked so hard at this football club.

“There’s always the ifs. But there was some talk after Saturday (at Peterborough) that that was it, we’re relegated.

“I couldn’t understand that because we’re still in a good position.

“There will be nerves, of course there will, but if you’d have said we’d have been a point ahead going into the final game at the start of the season, people that know the division would have taken it, believe me.

“The players are up for the challenge. It’s not as if it’s out of our hands. I’d rather be in the position we’re in than two or three of the other ones.”

The club have already sold 29,000 tickets for tomorrow’s decider, with another 2,000 expected to be snapped up on top of the 1,100 that Middlesbrough fans have so far purchased.

With an overwhelmingly partisan crowd urging his team on, Jones believes his players can use that to their advantage, just as they did 12 months ago when a near-capacity crowd roared them to victory over Wycombe and into the Championship.

“I hope there is the same atmosphere as last year, because that was fantastic,” said Jones.

“It will be full at our end.

“Players thrive on big crowds and our fans have been with us all season, so they’re not going to stop now.

“It’s a great feeling for the players to have that big crowd behind them. It’s what you play the game for.”

Jones has always maintained his admiration for the Owls’ support base, and describes them as the rock on which any success will be built at S6. He also reiterated yesterday that ensuring survival by what will be a record points total, regardless of the result, would be a bigger achievement than last year’s promotion – and provide as good a feeling.

Middlesbrough come to Hillsborough floundering, and if the season had a month still to run it may have been them fighting for survival, having spent the first half of the season chasing promotion.

Jones does not buy into the theory that mid-table Boro have nothing to play for, arguing that contracts and pride are sufficient motivation.

But whatever opposition they face, Jones knows it is all about how his team approach the game.

“We have to go for it,” he said. “If you try to sit back and set up to a get a point then all of a sudden they score from a corner and your team’s set up for something else. It’s best to play to your strengths. We’ve had good consistency since the turn of the year, so why spoil it now?”

Winger Jermaine Johnson is rated 50-50 to feature, while Reda Johnson could force his way back into the reckoning, two influential players whose presence would provide a huge boost for the Owls.