Somehow and from somewhere – and often from somebody who's been the worst player on the pitch – you nick a point or a delicious, hysterical winner.

It was thus with the Liverpool of old, the Swansea, West Brom or Manchester United of today and every team on a winning, succesful run.

The last-minute factor is a pretty good measure of how good – or bad – a team is.

Wednesday have scored a good few late winners and equalisers – but conceded even more.

The Owls are a perfect example of the principle.

They can't win for drawing games and they can't finish teams off. But they won't lie down either – and that's why they still have a chance of staying up.

Late goals against Stoke, Plymouth and West Brom have brought points and fresh hope where there looked like being neither. But last-gasp lapses have kept them down among the dead men in the Championship all season.

Two 90th-minute ones against Warnock's Palace home and away have cost three bitter points, enough to have them safe.

Two match-winners of their own in this recent run of nine unbeaten would have turned 13 points into 17 and Owls fans would be getting the fancy dress ready for the last game with nothing on their minds but beer and sunshine.

Sheffield United on the other hand have been relatively free of last-minute disaster and are consequently in the top half of mid-table.

But, as their agonised fans will point out, if they had started their winning run a game or two earlier they could have been clear in the play-off spots.

If only they had found a last-minute winner against Wednesday...


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