Darren Moore explains why he left Sheffield Wednesday hat-trick hero Josh Windass out of last two games

The Owls completed a perfect festive programme with a third win from three games to finally move above Ipswich Town into the second automatic promotion spot in League One.

Windass was a late substitute in the wins over Fleetwood and Port Vale, but made his presence felt from the start against Cambridge United, scoring a headline-grabbing hat-trick to extend Wednesday’s unbeaten streak to 13 games.

It was noticable that after each goal there was no exuberant celebrations from the 28-year-old son of former Hull City striker Dean, almost as if he was proving a point.

Whatever the celebration - or lack of - meant, Moore was just happy to see him score three well-taken goals.

"I didn’t feel the previous two games were the right games for him, away at Fleetwood and Port Vale at home,” explained Moore.

"But I thought today, the third game in a week, was the right time to bring him back in. He’s got wonderful creativity to his play and when you’re playing against a low block like Cambridge came with, I thought it was the right game to bring him into.

"It’s good to sometimes give a player a breather and watch the game from a different angle, and when he came back in he’s showed his class.

“His goals were clean, decisive, and he was in control of all of his finishing, he’ll probably have thought he could have got a fourth.

"For any player to get a hat-trick is a special moment and he showed the class talent he is.

"Really pleased for him and he celebrates in his own way.”

Wednesday have not lost in the league since a 2-1 reverse at leaders Plymouth on October but had failed to reel in both Argyle and Ipswich in the automatic promotion places.

Ipswich’s draw at Lincoln yesterday saw Wednesday climb to second, starting 2023 with promise after a 2022 in which they won more points than any other team in the EFL.

"I wanted to come out today, having finished 2022 strong, to be competitive today and be the best version of ourselves and I thought we were,” said Moore.

"To get the early goal disrupted Cambridge’s plans and gave us momentum and I thought from there we managed to get hold of the game.

"Them hitting the cross bar before half-time served as a real reminder of my message to them at half-time, that 2-0 was a dangerous scoreline.

"But we came out on the front foot in the second half and the third goal took the game away from them.

"It was an emphatic afternoon for us.

"But we keep our focus on ourselves, we don't look at league tables because they don’t serve a purpose for us.

"To get the 14th clean sheet of the season is a credit to the players.

"Certainly over the Christmas period we’re pleased to have collected nine points from three games.

"Even though it’s nice we’re in second position, we’ve got to keep our momentum and focus on the next game.”