Sheffield Wednesday man reveals the difference as they look to atone Ipswich Town sliding door moment

Ipswich pipped the Owls to second place in last season's League One table in what was a record-breaking and tightly-contested promotion battle, Wednesday going on to take promotion in iconic fashion thanks to the heroics across 11 days in May that ended with Josh Windass' diving header at Wembley.

It's fair to say the two sides went about their summers differently, Wednesday parting ways with Darren Moore while the Tractor Boys continued in the vein of Kieran McKenna. Ipswich sit third in the Championship and are vying for the title against the parachute payment riches of Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton, while only a remarkable resurgence under new boss Danny Röhl has allowed the Owls a fighting chance of survival after the worst start to a campaign in the club's history.

But it could all have been so different had the Owls held on to a two-goal lead at Portman Road back in February last year, falling to a 2-2 draw that despite its nature as a good result prevented Moore's side from opening up a seven-point lead on their third-placed opposition.

Three Ipswich wins in 11 matches had preceded the clash and though there was no imminent threat of a McKenna sacking, pressure was rising before goals from seven-figure fee pair Nathan Broadhead and Leif Davis cancelled-out those of Michael Smith and George Byers. Cameron Dawson had earlier saved a penalty and had Smith buried an excellent one-on-one chance late in the first half to make it three, the course of the two clubs may well have been very different.

"It kind of felt like a defeat because of the position we were in," said Owls defender and ex-Ipswich loanee Dominic Iorfa. "Being 2-0 up, it was a bit rough even though they were clearly a good side and going there was always going to be a tough place to go. We're obviously going there in different positions but it will still be a similar thing (this weekend). We were going there looking to win and that hasn't changed this season."

There was no doubt Wednesday had more work to do in a summer that saw half a changing room come and go, Moore's replacement Xisco lasting only 10 league matches before the Röhl-volution kicked into gear. What's gone is gone and Iorfa believes despite the 40 points separating the two sides heading into the clash, Wednesday can steal a coupon-busting win that would propel their survival hopes into a new stratosphere.

The Owls are eyeing a jump out of the relegation zone for the first time since August, though they'll have more than their work cut out against a side that won six Championship games on the spin before last weekend's defeat at Cardiff City.

Iorfa said: "We both came into the season on a high after the way things finished off last year, but they started where they left off and they've carried that momentum all the way through the season. They're playing with a lot of confidence, they score a lot of goals and they've had a bit of luck on their side as well. They deserve to be up there, rightly so. They've been a very good team this year.

"They're a good footballing side with good movement and they've got a lot of options as well. We've seen they have scored a lot of goals from subs and stuff, scoring late. We played them enough times last season and their style of play hasn't changed too much from what it was, they've just continued their form into this year."

Competitive performances against Leeds United and at Leicester City in recent weeks ended in defeat but showed Wednesday can mix it with the title challengers, Iorfa suggested. The Owls have taken a point apiece off both the aforementioned sides this season and are in a very, very different place to where they were when they played out a 1-0 defeat at Hillsborough in the third round of the campaign. Being exact in both boxes and taking their chances will be key.

"The big thing for us playing against teams like that is taking chances," he said. "You have to be clinical. You saw it against Leeds the other day, especially the first half, there wasn't much in it at all and we got the suckerpunch at the end of the first half and conceded. That's the difference with the top sides, they might not get too many chances but when they do get that chance they score. It's something we need to improve on as well.

"We need to make sure we keep clean sheets, you keep clean sheet you pick up points, but being clinical (in both areas) is the difference between us and the top sides in the games that we've played against them. You look at Leeds, at Leicester where we played well. It's just about being clinical."