Sheffield Wednesday: Garry Monk on 'gritty' Stoke win that takes Owls to third place in the Championship

Massimo Luongo’s first-half strike was enough to give the points to the home side in a scrappy game that Monk admitted was reminiscent to Friday’s clash at Cardiff that saw them leave heartbroken after a controversial late equaliser.

The 40-year-old said: “There are two carbon copy games we’ve had this week. We’ve had two very good first halves when we got a lead and possibly could have had more.

“Second half, we’ve given away too many free kicks and that scrappiness. In both games we’ve had to dig in and battle and show the other side of it.”

Wednesday’s increasingly impressive defence was resolute throughout the match with Dominic Iorfa and Julian Borner continuing their flowering partnership at the back.

Monk praised the duo as well as goalscorer Luongo but made clear there were large areas of improvement ahead for his team.

“In a sense you’re seeing everything you want to see from a team but of course when you look at the two second halves, we can do better,” he said.

“You need to show, when it’s not going for you, that organisation and spirit and fight and we’ve shown that in both games. We’re very unlucky to be sat here after two very similar games with six points.

“It is important that you're picking up points as you're improving."

There is little rest ahead for Wednesday, who welcome Monk’s promotion-challenging former side Leeds United for a Yorkshire derby on Saturday.