Wednesday's destiny put back in their own hands

Victory for Palace last night would have seen the Owls relegated, but 25-year-old Brunt – who was a key member of the Wednesday side which won promotion to the Championship back in 2005 – delivered a trademark free-kick which set up Gabriel Tamas's equaliser and denied the hosts all three points.

Irishman Brunt made 113 league starts, scoring 23 goals, in his three-year spell at Hillsborough, but his most telling contribution to the Owls' cause may have come in the black and white stripes of the Baggies.

Last night's result means Wednesday now have their destiny back in their own hands – after a 3-2 defeat at Cardiff City on Saturday – for a win against Palace at Hillsborough on Sunday will see them leapfrog the south London club to safety.

A draw would send the Owls down, as they trail Palace – docked 10 points for going into adminstration – by two points.

Palace took a deserved lead after 17 minutes when Steven Reid put through his own net, but former Hillsborough favourite Brunt's whipped-in cross was headed home by Tamas.

Another former Wednesday player, West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson, also gave his former side a helping hand by keeping out Alan Lee's 75th-minute effort.

Palace's Neil Danns's late red card for a headbutt means he will be suspended for the Hillsborough trip, providing a further fillip for the Owls whose manager Alan Irvine sat in the Selhurst Park stand, masking his emotions from the Sky cameras regularly trained on him.

The former Preston boss, who joined the Owls in January, admitted after the Cardiff loss that the dressing room was low, but last night's result will have been a real morale-booster.

Irvine said: "We will prepare like we always do and that means we will be very thorough."

The Owls have spent five years in the Championship since Paul Sturrock won promotion from League One in the 2004-05 season. Then they needed to go up via the play-offs, beating Hartlepool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Wednesday have experience of going into the final game of the season apprehensive about relegation. Two years ago, they had to beat Norwich on the final day to stay in the Championship.

A 4-1 win helped send Leicester City down instead of the Owls.

In goal that day was current No 1 Lee Grant, who hopes Owls fans will take up a cheap ticket offer to pack Hillsborough and roar them on to victory.

"It was unbelievable at the (recent Sheffield) derby and it is great to see everybody turning out and getting fully behind the lads and the staff," said Grant.

"Hopefully a full house on the last day of the season will see us push on and get the result we want.

"We have had players who have been in this position before and we haven't got too many players who have been relegated so hopefully that will be the same again come the end of the season.

"I was part of the team that stayed up on the last game of the season two years ago so I hope to recreate that and I think everyone here thinks the same."

Wednesday hope to have a 30,000-plus crowd on Sunday having slashed ticket prices to 10 for adults and 5 for concessions.

Chairman Lee Strafford said: "This match against Crystal Palace could be remembered as a pivotal fixture in Sheffield Wednesday's history and we want as many people to be at Sunday's game as possible to help Alan Irvine and his team over the line. We want to reward our supporters for their loyal support throughout the 2009-10 season as we look to a brighter future together.

"Providing tickets for 10 and 5 for this match should make it accessible for most Wednesdayites and we hope to have a sell-out crowd for our final match of the season."