Darren Moore pleased with subs calls as Sheffield Wednesday put ‘noise’ of Plymouth Argyle backlash behind them

The introduction of goalscorer Fisayo Dele-Bashiru after the hour and in particular a switch in system that saw Michael Smith hooked for defender Mark McGuinness with 20 minutes to go made a difference as the Owls scored late twice to seal three points.

Moore had faced criticism after his decision to take off both Barry Bannan and Josh Windass before Plymouth Argyle’s late winner in midweek.

Asked whether he was especially pleased his changes had made a difference, the Wednesday boss told The Star: “That’s football. You make decisions, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t work as you might like.

“That’s twice now we’ve made decisions and they’re really worked, another was against Wycombe.

“I keep saying that at Plymouth, I don’t think any substitutions had anything to do with the goal, it was just a lapse in concentration. But I can understand the noise.

“That’s the life and role of a manager. Sometimes you get the rub of the green with decisions, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you listen to the noise and take the noise, and when it goes right, you accept the noise.

“I wanted to change it up and go solid and block up the middle. I felt they were coming on strong in the middle of the pitch.

“Putting Mark in there and Fiz in, it solidified the middle of the pitch and we won the game.”

Wednesday had a swathe of chances throughout the match but went into the final 10 minutes with a nervy one-goal lead.

Moore said the way they handled that pressure was a further example of how the team have grown in recent months.

“It was all about the three points,” he said. “It has been hard. When we came back from Plymouth, I gave the boys Wednesday and Thursday off to recover from it so we only had 24 hours to prepare for Cheltenham.

“After a blistering start, I thought we controlled the game for long periods but at 1-0 you always feel that a lapse in concentration or anything (could cost you) as it only takes a second to score a goal.”