Sheffield Wednesday: Owls fans take salute from manager Jones after late fightback

Wednesday were trailing 2-0 to Nathan Tyson’s first League goal for 16 months and Jake Buxton’s header after 26 minutes but a stunning strike by Chris O’Grady and the backing of more than 6,000 visiting supporters lifted the Owls to a last-minute equaliser from Reda Johnson.

Jones admitted his team were nervous going into their first game back in the Championship, but said he was proud of his players and the vocal following from the blue half of Sheffield.

“When we got them in at half-time, we said they had nothing to be fearful of in this division with six-and-a-half-thousand behind you. When they are bouncing up and down like that, the fans are some sight to see,” he said.

“I’ve never seen support like that away from home. When they are bouncing like that they need to get the stadium checked for cracks. That’s some support and they drove us on.

“We looked nervous and we sensed that before the game. We looked a bit like rabbits in the headlights for the first 20 minutes but we had five or six making their debuts at this level which is a lot.

“It’s a learning curve for us and I think we were just finding out what it was all about but we know now. Once we got our foot on it and started to play we looked a different team and it was relentless in the second half.

“That was some performance from them because Derby couldn’t get out at all just as we couldn’t in the first 25 minutes. They were hanging on with everything they had and their ‘keeper made two unbelievable saves.”

Derby manager Nigel Clough saw his team lose a lead for the second game running after the dramatic Capital One Cup exit to Scunthorpe on Tuesday night.

“They put us under a lot of pressure without creating too many chances but when we got to the 89th or 90th minute after what we went through the other night we thought we had done enough but one mistake again has cost us,” he said. “We are pleased with the majority of the game and different facets of it. Their wonder goal gave them a massive lift.”

Tyson pounced from close range in the 11th minute after Jamie Ward headed down Gareth Roberts’s cross and Buxton dived to head the second when Paul Coutts pulled the ball back from the right in the 26th minute.

But O’Grady’s superb strike from outside the area in the 39th minute gave Wednesday hope and they deservedly levelled in the 90th minute when Lewis Buxton crossed and Gary Madine headed down for Johnson to bundle the ball in.

Derby County: Fielding,Brayford, Keogh, Buxton, Roberts, Coutts, Hendrick, Bryson, Hughes (Gjokaj 87), Tyson (O’Connor 74), Ward (Robinson 82). Unused substitutes: Legzdins, Jacobs, Doyle, Bennett.

Sheffield Wednesday: Kirkland, Buxton, Llera, Gardner (Beevers 83), R Johnson, Antonio, McCabe, Semedo, J Johnson, 
Pecnik (Madine 56),O’Grady. Unused substitutes: Bywater, Maguire, Mattock, Prutton, Coke.

Referee: S Mathieson (Cheshire).

Man of the match: Manuel Llera.