Sheffield Wednesday were well beaten by Doncaster Rovers.

A paltry first half display by Sheffield Wednesday mounted further pressure on Henrik Pedersen as the Owls fell to a second defeat to a bottom third team within five days.

Near-neighbours Doncaster Rovers raced into a deserved 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes thanks to set piece goals that experienced Owls defender Liam Cooper later admitted showed a lack of responsibility from the players. But the intensity and quality of the first half was lacking once again, with sloppy passing and lost duels continuing a theme from their defeat at Notts County on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday reverted to a back three to begin the match, switching back to Pedersen’s favoured four after just 20 minutes with the match’s damage done. Injuries and a level of fatigue has ravaged the squad in recent weeks. With important players returned from injury, the home side too altered their system and Pedersen admitted he had been surprised with the way Doncaster set up.

He told The Star: “It was that we want the formation to be played, and then it makes more sense to go in this way, to get a more aggressive press, because they just play long balls, they didn't play as they normally do. And to stay better for this, we changed.

“We needed to change to take care of some players. For the players we could play with today, there were a lot of players out. So, it was a needed change. We changed again, and then we changed again in the half. I think the different changes were good. But the basic, again, in the set pieces was not good enough and we need to increase the level. So, we not only play a good game, no, we need to play over 90 minutes.”

A battle with ‘the basics’ is one that the Danish coach has referred to a number of times in a run of form that has a 5-0 thumping of AFC Wimbledon pinned as the only win in six League One matches. Pedersen spoke of his disappointment in the basic defending of the goals but pushed on the fact that his side were lacking in other basic areas including ball retention and intensity, he said: “I think the first half we had the ball a lot and we had a lot of easy loss on the ball and then we got some few transitions against us. And here we have to be stronger.

“We see it in the second half, the second half is too late. Here we move the ball much quicker and we move it much more forward and not only sidewards and backwards. And we can show it in the second half, but we have to be stronger to do it from the first moment.”

Part of the system change saw Liverpool loanee Kieran Morrison moved to left wing-back before he reverted to his usual spot on the right wing. “It was to play with a three today,” Pedersen said on Morrison’s initial placement. “We have not done it in the season because basically we don't need it, but we should protect some players who have played way too much. We didn't have so many centre-backs, so it was a reason why we went this way and then we want to have two strikers up front in the pressing.”