Wednesday on road to peace

The club and supporters' organisation have been a loggerheads over shares in the football club. High level talks have now taken place and Wednesdayite vice-chairman John Gath said the meeting with Owls chief executive Kaven Walker was encouraging.

A statement by the group, who hold a 10 per cent share of Wednesday, said: "The meeting was conducted in a friendly and positive manner by both sides. A number of concerns and issues were raised and listened to by both parties, who will now report back to their respective boards.

"John said that he was very pleased that the meeting had taken place and hoped that this will be a starting point and lead to further discussions between ourselves and the club."

Walker told The Star: "It was an interesting meeting, and we'll see what happens."

The meeting has been widely interpreted as a possible first step towards healing a rift between the group and the club. Wednesdayite chairman Darryl Keys has denied Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dave Allen's claim that he backed Ken Bates at the time of the Hillsborough takeover battle. Keys said: "The only thing I supported was the granting of full access to the books to any would-be investor, whoever that may be."

Meanwhile Jermaine Johnson today had no guarantee that he would keep his Sheffield Wednesday place for the match at Norwich - but manager Brian Laws believes that the winger has the potential to play in the Premier League.

Johnson lost his right-wing spot after a dip in form and though he was recalled against Everton as one of five changes for the Carling Cup it seemed likely that Laws today would revert to the nucleus of the side that earned the first League win of the season last Saturday.

But the Owls boss has faith in the 400,000 forward: "He's got fantastic ability, the sort that a lot players would die for; we just need a bit more from him at the moment, on and off the ball. We need that bit more work.

"He could play in the Premiership if he gets it right. I know for a fact that he can do it.

"Hopefully, the fact that he's been out of the side will act as a spur to him and we'll soon see him at his best."

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