Sheffield Wednesday 2 Bristol City 0: McGugan so quick off the mark at third attempt for Wednesday

The midfield playmaker – a summer buy from Watford – is known for his eye for goal and creative flair.

But new head coach Carlos Carvalhal hopes to improve the 26-year-old’s all-round talents, including the defensive side of his game.

The former Nottingham Forest midfielder has been tasked with covering the back post at set-pieces and it played a key part in this win over promoted Bristol City.

Leading 1-0 from Tom Lees’s emphatic header on the hour-mark, last season’s League One champions came close to grabbing an unlikely equaliser 10 minutes later.

But McGugan cleared Wes Burns’s goal-bound header off the line, before joining a swift counter-attack which ended with him volleying home.

Left-back Jeremy Helan raced forward, picked out Ross Wallace on the left, and his cross was converted by McGugan at the back post.

Within the space of 20 seconds, McGugan had turned a goal-line clearance into a goal. No wonder City manager Steve Cotterill moaned afterwards Wednesday were content to be a counter-attacking side.

Not that McGugan – on his third Owls ‘debut’ after two previous loan spells – was complaining as Carvalhal celebrated his first game in English football with an impressive win.

“We have been working on that during the week, it’s a new job on the set-pieces at the back post,” said McGugan. “To clear off the line just in case, and I was lucky enough to be there.

“I got the clearance, and then it was just a case of support Jez (Helen) and make as many numbers up the other end as possible.

“Luckily enough, Ross put a great ball in and I tucked it away.

“I was shouting for Jez to give it to me, but he put it out to Ross and I just continued the run. It was a good way to finish.

“It’s always nice to get off to a good start and we have done that. We gave a good account of ourselves, but there is a lot more work to be done.

“We have got to enjoy the win but we know there’s a long season ahead. There’s another game around the corner, and we have to concentrate on that.

“The first goal was key, if we could have got one before time it would have been a lot better. We kept going, it was just a case of something going for us, and Lees popped up with a great header which settled us down even more.

“With the delivery, the corner is one of those things that we work on, and it’s brilliant that he can nip in. Hopefully, there’s more to come. If you want to be successful, everyone has to chip in along the way.

“I love it here, I have loved every minute. The fans were terrific today, from the first minute.

“They got behind us and gave us a massive lift, we gave them goals and three points to go home with.

“It’s always important to get off to a good start, but it is only one game and we can’t get carried away.”

Much has been made of the 11 new arrivals at Hillsborough in a summer of major changes, both on and off the pitch. But just five started on Saturday – midfield quartet McGugan, Wallace, Alex Lopez and Marco Matias, plus right-back Jack Hunt.

Playing with a lone striker in Atdhe Nuhiu, the Owls had danger from either flank in Matias and Wallace, while McGugan and Lopez prompted from the middle, leaving Sam Hutchinson to sit in a deeper role.

Portuguese winger Matias could have scored twice in the first half, miscuing in front of goal, before racing away only to see his fierce low shot dragged wide.

On-loan Celta Vigo midfielder Lopez was efficient on the ball, but he was thwarted when his 12-yard shot was deflected over.

Good work from substitute striker Lucas Joao down the right flank found Kieran Lee but Matias was stretching for the ball and prodded wide of Frank Fielding’s right-hand post.

For a side who only won five times at Hillsborough all last season, regulars could have been forgiven for fearing the worst.

But Lees picked the perfect time to score his first goal in Wednesday’s colours, powering home Lopez’s corner. Then came McGugan’s intervention to make it 2-0 before the Owls “closed the doors and windows”, as described in Carvalhal’s post-match press conference.

“When we went 2-0 up, we closed the doors and windows very well,” said the 49-year-old. “The players closed all the doors and windows. We didn’t want to let any light inside our house. We closed everything.”

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt (Palmer 90), Loovens, Lees, Helan, Wallace (Lee 83), Hutchinson, McGugan, Lopez, Matias, Nuhiu (Joao 77). Unused substitutes: Wildsmith, Semedo, Lavery, Sasso.

Bristol City: Fielding, Fredericks (Agard 80), Ayling, Flint, Williams, Bryan (Burns 36), Freeman, Pack, Smith, Wilbraham, Kodjia (Robinson 69). Unused substitutes: O’Leary, El-Abd, Wagstaff, Reid.

Referee: J Adcock (Notts).