‘Sorry’ Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town bosses pay tribute to Sheffield Wednesday and Darren Moore

Sheffield Wednesday, despite winning 3-0 at Shrewsbury on Saturday, have to settle for a play-off battle following Plymouth and Ipswich’s nailing down of the top two positions on Saturday, this despite the Owls clocking up 93 points with just one more match to play.

A remarkable unbeaten run in the middle of the campaign had Wednesday well on track for automatic promotion but their two main rivals never gave up the chase and when a poor run finally arrived at the worst possible time for the Owl,s towards the end of the season, Ipswich and Plymouth took advantage.

That fact brought some empathy from both Keiran McKenna at the Tractor Boys and Steven Schumacher, the Pilgrims boss, who pointed to Wednesday - and Barnsley - as one of the reasons for their drive to a place in the Championship.

Schumacher said: “I think the standard that has been set at the top end of League One this year has been nothing short of amazing. Big congratulations to Ipswich Town, who have obviously also sealed their automatic promotion. They have been brilliant, and brilliant to watch.

“So congratulations to Kieran and their team and then commiserations to Darren Moore and Sheffield Wednesday, and also Mike [Duff] at Barnsley.

“The relentless pace that all of the teams have set it’s just made you work so hard. Whenever we have had a good result we have always said ‘Okay, well done, but we are on to the next one because we can’t take our eye off the ball and get too carried away’.

McKenna echoed those sentiments adding: “I think the first thing I’d have to say is that it’s been a terrific effort from the other teams. We’ve had a fantastic season. I think the performance levels have been so high.

“Plymouth are having a fantastic season. The job that Steven [Schumacher] has done and the margins they’ve come out on top of - and I don’t say that in a negative way - is an incredible effort.

“I feel a little bit sorry for Darren Moore and Sheffield Wednesday, I have to say. I can very much feel what my emotions would be if I was in their position.

“They’ve got such a strong squad, have delivered a top season, got 93 points with a game to go and they’re not going to go up automatically. In this situation you have empathy with all the other teams. It’s been a fantastic season. The level of play has been really high.”

Wednesday take on Derby County next Saturday at Hillsborough in their final match of the regular season, with the Rams pushing to secure a play-off place. Depending on results those teams could face each other again in the semi-finals.