Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Shrewsbury - Report

Mark McGuiness gave the home side the lead five minutes before the interval with a near post header from a set-play.

It came after Salop had been dogged for the opening 40 minutes to prevent The Owls from leading - which featured important blocks from Tom Flanagan and Chey Dunkley.

It looked like a long road back for Shrewsbury - who were unable to create anything of note in the first half.

But they were more adventurous after the break and created a couple of good openings when Chey Dunkley headered wide from a set piece and Moore saw a shot whistle past David Stockdale's post.

As the game wore on both side's pushed, but Salop created enough opportunities to argue they should have gotten something from the game.

Dunkley headered wide again, and Luke Leahy could not find enough room to shoot inside the box when he was just yards out.

And despite a late onslaught to the Wednesday goal in stoppage time, Town were unable to find a way through.

Town arrived at Hillsborough winless in five despite putting in some promising displays and deserving more from their previous games.

Steve Cotterill's squad has been incredibly unlucky with injuries. The boss confirmed in the week Elliott Bennett is the latest Salop player to be ruled out for an extended period with a calf problem.

This adds to Aiden O'Brien and Julien Dacosta who are missing for the foreseeable, as well as long-term absentees Daniel Udoh and George Nurse.

Things would not get any easy for Town as they took on high-flying Wednesday - Darren Moore's side had won four of their last six before the fixture.

Last season this game ended in a 1-1 draw when Ryan Bowman scored a first-half equaliser to earn Town a point.

But when Cotterill's team news came through Bowman had to make do with a place on the bench on this occasion.

Rob Street had come into the side to play alongside Christian Saydee.

The only other change for Town after last week's 1-0 defeat to Barnsley at the Meadow saw Carl Winchester recalled to the starting eleven - Rekeil Pyke was the man to miss out.

Salop started the game brightly having their fair share of possession in the opening 10 minutes.

But the game's first chance fell to the hosts. After Matthew Pennington had a heavy touch on the edge of the Town box which meant Fisayo Dele-Bashiru went through, but Marko Marosi made an important stop to divert it behind for a corner.

The hosts grew into the game, and the former Wednesday man Chey Dunkley was forced into a couple of important challenges to stop the home side from taking the lead.

Tom Flanagan also put in a couple of brilliant tackles to stop the hosts from scoring the first one on Josh Windass and then another on McGuiness as he ran into the box.

But five minutes before the break Shrews' determination was undone, as they conceded from a set piece.

The corner came in from the right, and McGuiness was there to win the first header at the near post - and it went across Marosi's goal and into the corner.

The second period followed a similar pattern to the first. The home side had a lot of the ball and when Town won it back they could not quite piece it together to create a clear-cut chance.

Matthew Pennington was on hand to clear a cross from Dominic Iorfa as The Owls probed Town for a second goal.

Moments later Windass cut in from the left onto his favoured right foot but blasted his shot into the Town fans - who were in brilliant voice all afternoon.

Just past the hour mark, Salop had their first meaningful sight of goal when Dunkley got his head to a Tom Bayliss free-kick, but he did not get enough on it to get his effort on target.

And moments later Town pressed again when Taylor Moore found himself high up the pitch, but his left-footed shot from inside the area went just past David Stockdale's post.

Barry Bannan forced a great save from Marosi to keep it a 1-0 when he really should have scored.

But Salop came on really strong in the closing stages, and they did enough to get something from the game.

Leahy found himself eight yards out but could not find room to shoot after a brilliant pass from Tom Bayliss.

And Dunkley headered just millimetres wide again this time from a free-kick, it was an effort which looked like it was going into the corner.

Town pushed hard in the final moments to find an equaliser when Tom Bloxham saw a shot blocked, and the home crowd became increasingly agitated - but they could not find that equaliser.

Teams

Shrews: Marosi, Dunkley, Flanagan, Pennington, Shipley (Pyke 75mins), Moore, Winchester, Leahy, Bayliss, Saydee, Street (Bloxham 80mins). #Salop

Subs: Burgoyne, Bailey, Pyke, Bowman, Bloxham, Barlow, Hutchings.

Sheffield Wednesday: Stockdale, Iorfa (Palmer 82mins), Bannan, Windass (Wilks 75mins), Dele-Bashiru (Vaulks 82mins), Bakinson, Ihiekwe, Smith, James, McGuiness (Gregory 68mins), Mighten.

Subs: Dawson, Palmer, Vaulks, Wilks, Gregory, Paterson, Shipston.