Steve Bruce praises Sheffield Wednesday fans in a “frustrating” result against Reading

The Owls had plenty of opportunities to secure three points in the chase for a late play-off push, but it was not to be as Adam Reach fired over in the dying stages.

Bruce, who remains unbeaten is his two matches as Owls boss, said: “It was frustrating.

“We always knew when you look at the weather forecast yesterday how difficult it’s going to be. For a footballer it’s your worst conditions to have that horrible swirling wind.

“But the disappointing thing is we didn’t take the real big chances we had, that were ours.

“Especially in the first half. In the second half we had a 20 minute spell but to be fair Reading had changed a bit and went a little bit more direct.”

Wednesday were comfortably on top in the first half and weren’t tested until the second period when Reading grew into the game.

The result marks five clean sheets in the last five games for the Owls, which Bruce said is vital if the team are to progress into a promotion challenging side.

“Overall I’ve only been here a week, it’s another clean sheet and the remit to start with if you’re going to keep conceding two goals every week you’re going to get beat,” he said.

“That’s one thing we’ve arrested and we just need to be a bit more clinical.

“One thing we talked about when we set off on this journey all those weeks ago is defensively we have to sure up a bit.

“We were conceding goals for fun, so that’s a positive and the big positive for the day was the reception I got from the supporters.

“It was quite remarkable and for each and every one of them to come out and support the team on a day like today just shows that great support that we’ve got.”

Wednesday were without captain Tom Lees, who was unable to feature after sustaining an injury in training yesterday.

Bruce confirmed the Owls are likely to be without their skipper for Tuesday night’s game against Millwall.