Josh Windass revels in ‘best changing room’ as Sheffield Wednesday fans await more Windass winners

Windass had a brilliant season at Hillsborough in 2022/23, picking up 23 goals and assists over the course of the campaign, with none of them more important than his last-gasp header under the arch on Monday afternoon.

He was honest about the general performance on the day, joking that he was surprised that Darren Moore didn’t bring him off, but anyone of a blue and white persuasion will be delighted that he didn’t after his header rippled the back of the net.

Windass certainly enjoyed it.

Speaking to The Star, the Owls’ match-winner said, “123rd minute at Wembley? It’s unbelievable. We didn’t play very well, I thought Baz (Bannan) was our best player, and I think we’ve played a lot better in recent weeks - obviously the second leg of the play-offs was incredible.

“Today we deserved to go up, we got relegated because of a points deduction, but we’re back up now.”

The 29-year-old also praised the character of the team to come back from the disappointment of Will Vaulks’ disallowed winner to find the back of the net again, smiling at the thought of avoiding another shootout.

“The lads are incredible to be honest,” he said. “I could be the biggest moaner going and they deal with me very well. They believe in everything going on, and it’s probably the best changing room I’ve ever been involved in, they’re brilliant.

It went a bit flat after Vaulksy scored, we thought it was a goal, but we came back from that. I didn’t want to take a penalty to be honest, I was a bit nervous, so I was more celebrating not having to take a penalty than my actual goal!”

It was confirmed on Friday that, following promotion, the Owls had exercised a one-year option in the forward’s contract, and fans will be looking forward to seeing a few more Windass winners next season – this time in the second tier rather than the third.

MORE: Ben Heneghan will return to Sheffield Wednesday for preseason