Sheffield Wednesday are finally seeing the ‘true Michael Smith’

It came on 83 minutes when Michael Smith, signed amid a fair amount of fanfare from neighbours Rotherham United, found the net for the first time at league level for Wednesday in his maiden start and 90 minutes for the club.

A troublesome thigh issue had previously stymied the start of his Owls career. Now fit, the 30-year-old showed glimpses in midweek of why the Owls were so keen to sign him.

On whether the club are starting to see the best of Smith, Owls chief Darren Moore said: "Yes, and as the games and training has gone by, I have liked what I have seen from him. He had a couple of niggles. I pulled him out because I wanted him to get fit. With him fit, we are seeing the true Michael Smith and what he can bring.

"I thought he led the line well against Morecambe. He was a good target man. He stood in the right areas and his link up play was good.

"I thought we saw a little bit of what we saw when he played us against last season.

"I still there is a lot more to come from him but it's great to see him back and in a better place in terms of his physicality."

Wednesday face their biggest test of the campaign so far against an Ipswich side who look the real deal.

The Suffolk outfit are riding high at the summit alongside Portsmouth and have picked up maximum points from their four away league fixtures this term - conceding just one goal.

Moore is suitably impressed and expects them to finish in one of the top-two positions.

He added: "I do because of the calibre of players they have got. They have recruited very well in terms of how they have gone about things.

"At the same time, you have to make that work and at the moment the early signs are very, very good. For him (Kieran McKenna), his staff and his team, they have done really, really well. He has done an excellent job. He is somebody that has been well head-hunted by them.

"He is showing his true potential. I spoke to him after the game last season and we were in the manager's office afterwards and he knew he had some work to do. But he implemented and started that work at the back end of the season when he had a real good look."