Why Sheffield Wednesday must hold their nerve in a tense race for automatic promotion

Last weekend, Sheffield Wednesday passed up the chance of moving up two places from third spot and taking outright leadership of League One, but in a promotion race which has the potential to go down right to the wire, you must not stew on slip-ups.

Reece James admits that taking one point instead of three did put a 'bit of a dampener' on Saturday's stalemate at Derby County, but there was also the realisation that other chances will surely arrive.

Wednesday's draw saw them move within a point of second-placed Ipswich, who drew at home to Fleetwood on Friday. They are two points behind leaders Plymouth, beaten on the same night by visiting Port Vale.

In what could well be a three-way fight to the death for two automatic promotion places, it's about being there when it matters.

James said: "By winning, we could have gone top, which put a bit of a dampener on it. But our chances are going to keep coming.

"We've got to make sure that, first and foremost, we concentrate on our performances and the results we need and should be getting.

"It needs to be more about performance than results. But the guys are obviously aware of the table and as players, we had one eye on that.

"We've said from the start, we need to go up - rightly so. We have got to make sure as a players and a team, we go back for them (fans)."

James slotted in seamlessly on the left hand side of a defensive three and showed his versatility.

It was a day for defensive organisation at Derby. It was going the other way where Wednesday erred.

James added: "As a defender, you enjoy these sort of occasions and it's good to frustrate. As well as doing that, we want to be good on the ball and at times, we could have been a bit better. But it was a tough and hard place to come.

"At other times, we could have come here and probably lost the game. We stood up to the test really well and it was definitely a good point and step in the right direction.

"It is about taking a bit more time with the ball and finding the right pass. It's difficult, but we have got to learn and be better."