Fierce, vital QPR win a reminder that Sheffield Wednesday are not good for your health

Because Saturday afternoon served as a reminder that following Sheffield Wednesday isn’t good for your health. And as the minutes wound down at Loftus Road, as QPR delivered wave after wave of pressure, as those in yellow stretched and headed and cleared, heart rates in Sheffield could be heard from Shepherds Bush.

In a week that delivered angry post-match press conferences, conversation over whether or not this squad had the stomach or energy to turn survival potential into reality, a bitterly-fought 2-0 win at QPR proved that - as Barry Bannan defiantly snarled in his pre-match media gambit - you can never truly write them off. Bannan led from the front in a showing that delivered on that promise. The show goes on.

As Anthony Musaba rocketed the through-ball of his close pal Djeidi Gassama into the roof of the net in injury time to spark away end pandemonium, the sense of joyous relief was palpable. It was a win so very, very fraught - and so very well deserved.

If the fall-out from the misery of Middlesbrough left questions as to how the Wednesday side would shape-up in terms of effort and intensity, a much-changed side answered them. The approach was tweaked as well as the personnel. They were bright between the boxes, pushing the ball around nicely. They had plenty of it in a first half that promised much but delivered little. The killer quality just fell short in a tight first 45.

It was a first half that saw a Josh Windass miss that seemed easier to score than spurn. When an injury to livewire Ian Poveda arrived within a few minutes, at one stage it looked a period set to sum-up Wednesday’s season of oh-so-nearly. There was scrap, there was battle, but the big moments seemed to go against them.

That was until the stroke of the hour. If Poveda’s exit sprung fears of a lack of deviance wide right, his replacement Djeidi Gassama laughed them off. Picking the ball up well-covered at the QPR by-line, the little Frenchman dropped his shoulder, dancing his way past one and two markers. Isaac Hayden’s attempted clearance was well-struck but got only as far as the youngster’s expertly-placed knee. Let’s describe it as a stunning finish.

After Windass, after Poveda, after a first half Hayden challenge on Gassama had so narrowly been decreed to have taken place outside the box, it was a touch of fortune Wednesday had been long overdue. When the home side rattled the woodwork shortly afterwards, they were touched once more.

In a Röhlvolution so dependent on miles travelled, on intricate passing movements and on pace and athleticism, there’s still such an important role for the big units to play - though they can shift too. Michael Smith, making his first start since the horrors of Huddersfield, provided the focal point for the Wednesday attack to work around. At the back, Bambo Diaby’s tussle with the lively Sinclair Armstrong was at times more WWE than EFL. In the end, the Wednesday defender beat him into a tap-out with a display of relentless strength. It was a throwback scrap and you’d fancy the pair will have a bruise or two to contend with in the morning.

Whatever happens from here, it must be remembered how far this Wednesday side have come from the depths of slow, sullen, Spanish misery at the start of the campaign. The performance was lively and battling and fierce, as if the nay-saying conversation of midweek was crashing around the skulls of those in football boots throughout. There was a snarl to Wednesday once more.

There are five matches to go in their attempt to once again break records by becoming the first team in Championship history to stay up after a 14-match winless start. They’re battling back from the worst start to a league season in the club’s 157-year history. As those involved keep telling us, it would surely be an achievement up there with anything we saw in May last year.

And breathe. For now, at least.