Why the oldest team in the league is still learning as ‘anarchy’ crept into Sheffield Wednesday win over Shrewsbury Town

For all Sheffield Wednesday’s chances, for all the possession they had in Shrewsbury’s half, for all the blocks and last-ditch tackles the visitors made throughout the match, it was the Owls who ended up under pressure in the final moments.

Darren Moore admitted after the match that the nature of gritty back-to-back wins at largely unfancied sides almost gave him more satisfaction than a pair of one-sided wins might. Those were one of the ‘Achilles heel’ issues that prevented a proper tilt at automatic promotion in the last campaign.

But as the coaching team persevered with three forwards in the final 10 minutes Wednesday dropped deep and invited pressure for one of the first times this season – and a heart or two may have stopped when Chey Dunkley’s header spun wide in the final throes.

The instruction, clearly, was not to sit deep. And Moore, in relaxed mood, felt the nervousness of the crowd impacted on the players retreating as they did.

The oldest team in League One they may be, this group of players are still learning, he said.

“When all others are losing their heads, it’s up to us to be in control,” he said. “Whatever is happening is happening around us, we have to stay in control on the pitch. We had to remain in control.

“A little bit of anarchy got onto the pitch towards the end and that’s understandable because naturally you defend a little deeper thinking there’s safety in that – actually that can be an achilles heel and you have to get up the pitch.

“There were chances to get out and counter attack, but because of the mindset we were in, we lost the ball silly. For the boys, sometimes you have t go through these experiences for the boys to learn from it and they will learn from it.

“What I did see in the last 10 or 15 minutes was us being dogged. I saw Barry Bannan and Icky, Mark McGuinness put in blocks. That was excellent but there’s lots to learn because there will be other teams that come here and do similar in terms of how they set up. We learn from it and keep applying ourselves.”