Grumpy Gary and dependable Dom: Heroes and Villains in Sheffield Wednesday's Millwall draw

Those looking through an optimistic lens, Sheffield Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Millwall chalked up their second clean sheet against a playoff hopeful in just a few days, it moved them from the bottom of the table and capped off a week that saw them add 10 points to their tally.

Others will point to a goal tally that doesn’t seem keen to budge – only bottom club Derby have scored fewer than their six – and the fact that even without their now six-point deduction, the Owls would be sitting 18th in the table.

Let’s take a look at the heroes and villains from a middling afternoon at Hillsborough.

Julian Börner

The German has had to wait for his chance this season, shunted down a lengthening list of central defenders and struggling for form.

But in shutting out Millwall he offered another solid performance after an eye-catching display against Bournemouth. With classy operator Jed Wallace operating in his channel, Börner looked comfortable and confident, showing guts by getting himself strapped up after a nasty cut.

Long may it continue.

Gary Rowett

Bit spicy, that. Rowett was involved in something of a kerfuffle after the final whistle, with Josh Windass and Callum Paterson at the centre of things.

The Millwall boss explained to the media after the match: “Windass decided to say, ‘why are you being chirpy? You need to relax.’ Which I’d say is quite disrespectful to a manager.”

As a manager, should be be trusted to keep his cool a touch more? We’ll leave that for others to mull over.

Adam Reach

Reach at his brilliant best? Not by a long chalk, but there glimpses of his attacking threat are starting to show after a frustrating few months.

He looks more willing to try things, more confident in pulling the trigger, and his legs in the centre of the field once again allowed Wednesday to defend from the front alongside Elias Kachunga and Windass.

The building blocks are there for Reach and like several players in the blue and white ranks, you feel he just needs a goal to get himself going.

Dominic Iorfa

Another dependable outing from Wednesday’s top performer on the day.

A couple of recovery tackles were standout moments, but it was the work he did in organising the defence that was especially impressive, guiding Joost van Aken through an afternoon out of position.

Strong in the air, good on the ball, it is no surprise the stats suggest his importance: they’ve kept clean sheets in 66.67% of matches he has played this season, compared to 20% in matches he hasn’t.

Bartosz Bialkowski

Surely the man of the match? The Millwall keeper made a couple of genuinely good saves and while Wednesday should have tested him much more, he was something of a brick wall, particularly as his well-drilled defence time and again pushed the Owls past their front post.

In a match like that, one mistake wins it or loses it. Bialkowski and those in front of him refused to oblige.

MORE FROM OUR WEDNESDAY WRITING TEAM

“A bit chippy” - What happened in post-match bust-up between Gary Rowett and Owls players

Sheffield Wednesday RECAP: What Garry Monk said after Millwall draw

All sixes and sevens.. in a good way? Ratings from Sheffield Wednesday's goalless draw with Millwall

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