'Horrid to play against' - Sheffield Wednesday player ratings from hard-fought Accrington Stanley clash

The Owls were favourites going into the game at the Wham Stadium, with Josh Windass returning to his former club on the back of goals in consecutive games and Darren Moore’s side having a slight chance of climbing into the top two.

As it happened, they weren’t able to leapfrog Ipswich Town, but both the Tractor Boys and Plymouth Argyle dropped points, meaning that Wednesday are now just one point off the top two and five points off top.

Here are our ratings from a tough but successful day in Lancashire.

David Stockdale – 7

The distribution side of things in Wednesday’s backline is always one that’s going to get fan heartbeats going, but in terms of his goalkeeping he did almost everything right on Saturday. Claimed the ball well on a number of occasions, and made one really big one-on-one save at a crucial time.

Dominic Iorfa – 7

Playing in a different position to what he’s used to… He’s been good at centre back recently, but was asked to move to a right wingback position for this one. Won plenty in the air, got up and down his side well, and dealt with the positional change well.

Mark McGuinness – 7

Such a tidy footballer, and once again showed his quality. Barely put a foot wrong all game, won plenty in the air, was comfortable on the ball when asked to play out, and he continues to read the game so well. Been a very shrewd opposition.

Michael Ihiekwe – 7

Another sturdy display as the most experienced man in the Owls’ back three. Won loads of aerial duels at important times, and made some key clearances as well. Had one cleared off the line in the early stages of the game.

Reece James – 6

A pretty accomplished performance from James, who was back in at left centre back. He made some really well-timed interventions, and got about the pitch incredibly well. There were a couple of hairy moments in the second half, but Wednesday survived.

Alex Mighten – 7

Like Iorfa, Mighten was asked to play in a different position this afternoon, dropping back from being a winger to a wingback. Took his goal really well to open the scoring, and looked a threat on a number of occasions when running at his man. Seemed to cause genuine problems for them.

Will Vaulks – 7

A really tidy performance from Vaulks in the heart of midfield after returning the squad. He didn’t try anything fancy, and looked very at ease alongside Bannan and Dele-Bashiru. Kept the ball well – proving a useful outlet for Wednesday on the day.

Barry Bannan – 7

He’s able to make things out of nothing, sometimes… He didn’t look to be having the best of games, but then out of nothing helped set up the opening goal and picked some sublime passes either through or over the Accrington backline.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru – 6

Was busy, but wasn’t able to have the same sort of impact on the game that he did against Southampton. Had plenty of the ball and really did try and make things happen, but seemed to come up short too often against a stubborn home side. Had a big chance to score with 10 minutes to go.

Josh Windass – 6

Full of running against his former club, and seemed to shift positions on the field as he looked for spaces to exploit, however Stanley seemed to deal with him pretty well and he was limited in terms of ways to affect the game.

Michael Smith – 7

There was some really good hold-up play from the forward at Accrington. There was limited service to him in terms of balls into the box, but he put in a real shift leading the line on his own and showed his strength when he had his back to the defenders. Must be horrid to play against.

Lee Gregory – N/A

Came on for the final 20 minutes at 1-0, replacing Windass.

Callum Paterson – N/A

Replaced goalscorer Mighten with 10 minutes left on the clock.