Fives and sixes, but a couple of sevens - Player ratings as Sheffield Wednesday fall to disappointing Birmingham City defeat

Sheffield Wednesday had the chance to climb out of the relegation zone and get one over on one of their bottom three rivals, but it was an opportunity missed for the Owls at Hillsborough on Saturday.

So while Birmingham City picked up three points – as well as Coventry City, Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town – Wednesday are now three points adrift of safety ahead of what will be a very tough game against against promotion-chasing Brentford next week.

Here are our player ratings from a very disappointing afternoon at Hillsborough…

Keiren Westwood – 6 – Didn’t really have much to do to be honest, and wasn’t at fault for the goal. Can’t fault him really.

Chey Dunkley – 6 – He did ok, but seemed a bit quieter than usual. Was very unhappy with being subbed off in the second half.

Tom Lees – 7 – Another solid showing from the centre back, who has been Wednesday’s most consistent player this season. Won plenty of duels – aerially and on the ground – and made plenty of crucial clearances. Should even probably have scored.

Liam Palmer – 5 – Not an awful performance by any stretch, but probably could’ve done better in the build-up to Scott Hogan’s goal. Did make a good challenge towards the end.

Matt Penney – 5 – Will have been hoping to make an impact after the decision to start him, but looked a bit uneasy defensively and wasn’t able to make too much of an impact going forward.

Sam Hutchinson – 7 – Showed all of the passion and work ethic that you’d expect from him. Made some excellent defensive interventions and never gave up on anything. One of the few to take any credit from this one.

Barry Bannan – 6 – Had almost as many shots as the rest of the team combined, and no player on the pitch made more successful tackles, but he wasn’t able to make much of an impact going forward. Started out wide but was then moved centrally. Far from his best showing.

Liam Shaw – 4 – Wasn’t bad at all in the first half, but the importance of his sending off can’t be downplayed. Wednesday probably don’t lose with 11 men, and it really was an unnecessary challenge for the second yellow.

Kadeem Harris – 6 – Tried to make things happen down the right side, but was often shut out by Kristian Pedersen. Was lively as always though.

Callum Paterson – 5 – Worked hard enough, as ever, and could have had an assist on another day. Was pretty starved of service, and the Birmingham centre backs managed to keep him quiet for the most part.

Josh Windass – 5 – A first start for a while for him, and while he was a willing runner up top, Birmingham’s defence didn’t really give him an inch. Wasn’t able to get any shots off.

Next up for the Owls is a trip to the big smoke to take on Brentford, a side who are battling for form themselves despite their ongoing promotion push.

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