Fleetwood Town v Sheffield Wednesday: Fleetwood boss cries foul play as Owls take three points in vital scrap

His side came from a goal down to lead the affair 2-1 at half-time before Lee Gregory added his second and third goals inside a minute to turn the clash on its head.

Former Scotland international Crainey claimed Wednesday handballed in the lead-up to Gregory’s first goal, which came in just the fourth minute as the Owls started well on top.

The result means the Cod Army go into the final day of the season in danger of dropping into the bottom four, while Wednesday’s win propels them into fourth place and a last day showdown for the playoff places.

“I’m gutted for the lads,” Crainey told BBC Lancashire post-match. “I think it’s a handball leading upto the goal as well, I could see that from where I was but we never got that decision.

“We responded well, going 2-1 up at half-time. It was a really good first half performance and I thought we deserved the lead at half-time.

“At the start of the second half we contained them well, they had a lot of the ball at the back without really creating anything or hurting us. Then they got a wee bit of space down the side to get an equaliser and we switched off at the restart.

“At that point it’s going to be tough, they’re a good side.”

Fleetwood dropped into a determined low block and kept the Owls at bay for much of the second half before Gregory intervened to earn his side a hugely important three points with goals in the 73rd and 74th minute.

Crainey said: “Sheffield Wednesday are a good team, they’ve got good players that can punish you, but I felt the lads contained them really well. Unfortunately we didn’t get anything out of the game, we need to go to Bolton, be positive and get something out of the game.

“At the start of the second half they didn’t create much and that minute of loss of concentration has cost us the game. That’s the reality of it.”