Mark McGuinness ends unlikely statistic as Sheffield Wednesday claim narrow win over Shrewsbury Town

Before Saturday, the Owls had netted 34 times in League One but had yet to find a goal from a centre-half. So when defender Mark McGuinness headed in a first-half goal, it finally ended that unlikely statistic - four months into the season.

And it proved to be decisive as Wednesday maintained their pressure on the top two of Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town. The Owls came into the game on a six-match unbeaten league run, after last week’s 1-0 win at Accrington Stanley.

It was a sluggish start from the hosts in wet conditions, but they had a great chance to open the scoring on six minutes. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru pounced on a defensive mistake but, with just the goalkeeper to beat, fired straight at Marko Marosi.

The former Doncaster Rovers stopper also had to be alert to gather in an Alex Mighten effort as Wednesday attacked the Kop in the first half. Mighten looked the Owls’ most potent threat, and he created the next chance, his cross finding Josh Windass but the forward struggled to make contact and scooped the ball over the crossbar.

Shrewsbury - with former Owl Chey Dunkley at the back - were frustrating the hosts, and it took a set-piece to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time. Barry Bannan’s corner picked out McGuinness at the near post and his head floated in at the far post.

Michael Smith came close to a second, but his header bounced the wrong side of the post just before the hour-mark. At the other end, Dunkley headed wide from a Tom Baylis free-kick.

Windass limped off to be replaced by Mallik Wilks, and the former Hull City forward nearly made an instant impact. He raced clear, before feeding Bannan whose shot was saved by Marosi, with Smith firing the loose ball into the side netting from a tight angle.

There were a few nervous moments late in the game, as the Shrews chased an equaliser but Wednesday held out for victory.