Sheffield Wednesday 1 Burnley 1: Lee earns point for Owls in Hillsborough stalemate

The Owls being held to a draw on home soil by Burnley together with Ipswich Town claiming a last-gasp victory over Reading at Portman Road means Carlos Carvalhal’s men remain seventh in the table.

If that was a disappointing outcome, however, there were plenty of grounds for optimism for Wednesday on a night when they more than matched one of the Championship’s most highly regarded sides.

The hosts, after a difficult opening half hour that included falling behind to Andre Gray’s third-minute strike, were full value for at least the share of the spoils.

Barry Bannan, once again, was outstanding in midfield on a night when Atdhe Nuhiu again confounded his critics with an impressive display that included creating the equaliser for Kieran Lee early in the second half.

Wednesday, beaten in the Cup by Shrewsbury Town at the weekend to miss out on welcoming Louis van Gaal’s men to Hillsborough later this month, may head to fellow play-off hopefuls Birmingham City this weekend outside the top six.

But the South Yorkshire outfit look an increasingly good bet to extend their season beyond May 7.

Last night was also a heartening one for Hull City and Middlesbrough, who saw not just Burnley drop two precious points but also Derby County as Preston North End claimed a goalless draw at Pride Park.

Not that this looked like being the case in the opening stages at Hillsborough, thanks to the hosts falling behind before any late arrivals had even taken their seats. And it was no surprise that Gray should be the man to make the breakthrough.

Since moving north to Burnley in August, Gray has repaid the faith shown by Sean Dyche in spending around £7m on the striker.

He leads the Championship goalscoring charts with a tally of 18, two of which came when still at Brentford.

Of the rest, 14 have been scored at Turf Moor – including one on his home debut as the Owls were beaten 3-1 in East Lancashire immediately after the September international break – so last night’s opener was only his second on the road in a Clarets shirt.

That also came in South Yorkshire, back in October at Rotherham United. His second away goal couldn’t have been any easier, either, with Gray merely having to tap in from three yards after Glenn Loovens had been caught out by a swift turn from Sam Vokes who then laid on the simple chance for his strike partner.

Conceding so early clearly rocked Wednesday, who for the next half hour or so committed error after error to the clear frustration of the home fans in the 19,762 crowd.

Such profligacy in possession was very unlike the Owls and they were fortunate to escape further punishment twice in quick succession after the half hour mark.

Scott Arfield, the former Huddersfield Town midfielder, squandered the two opportunities by, first, allowing Daniel Pudil to dispossess him with a last-gasp challenge.

Then, after George Boyd had scampered clear down the left flank, Arfield fired over.

The second of those let-offs seemed to spark Wednesday into life and the hosts were unfortunate not to be level by the break.

Fernando Forestieri just failed to get sufficient power behind a shot that followed Gary Hooper’s flick and Tom Heaton saved easily. Ross Wallace then fired a thunderbolt from 30 yards narrowly over before Forestieri again tested the safe hands of Heaton again with a decent effort.

Clearly buoyed to end the first half on top, Wednesday had levelled matters within 137 seconds of the restart.

An incisive cross from Barry Bannan created the initial opening for Nuhiu to lose his marker before cushioning a header into the path of Lee. He duly finished with a low drive under Heaton.

Bannan had a go himself six minutes later but his effort flew wide before Hooper opted to try and pass rather than shoot when found by Nuhiu, allowing David Jones to get back and clear. Burnley wasted a gilt-edged opportunity as the game moved into the final quarter, Vokes lamely shooting wide.

The Owls’ response was an ambitious effort from Bannan that curled away from Heaton’s goal before Ross Wallace also tried his luck from distance but Heaton saved comfortably. Kieran Westwood had to save smartly from Arfield at the death before doing the same from Rouwen Hennings as honours ended even

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood; Hunt, Hutchinson, Loovens, Pudil; Wallace (McGeady 87), Lee, Bannan, Forestieri; Nuhiu (Joao 82), Hooper. Unused substitutes: Price, Semedo, McGugan, Bennett, Sasso.

Burnley: Heaton; Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward; Boyd (Taylor 59), Jones, Barton, Arfield; Gray (Hennings 87), Vokes. Unused substitutes: Robinson, Duff, Kightly, Ulvestad, Darikwa.

Referee: A Woolmer (Northamptonshire).