Four games ago, Sheffield Wednesday broke a club record, going 23 games unbeaten and soaring to the top of league one. Promotion seemed a certainty and the title was within their grasp.
They haven’t won since.
It has been four games since the Owls last recorded a league victory, and the club’s promotion push is looking increasingly precarious with every point dropped.
This difficult period comes during a winnable run of games, with losses to local rivals Barnsley and bottom of the league Forest Green Rovers and most recently a draw at 17th placed Cheltenham Town, where they clawed back a point with an 87th minute equaliser.
Darren Moore’s men have dropped out of top-spot and into second, overtaken by Plymouth Argyle who are now one point ahead.
Only the top two teams obtain automatic promotion into the Championship with 3rd to 7th entering the playoffs. Rival promotion-hopefuls Ipswich are now only three points behind and a have a game in hand so could oust Wednesday from the automatic spots as early as this weekend.
From a more positive perspective, it’s almost impossible for Wednesday to miss out on playoffs this season due to the difference in points between them and 7th place Peterborough United. The team is also still only one point off 1st place and the league one title.
In a post-match interview after yesterday’s game, Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore said: “The boys are a bit – not disappointed – flat in there that we didn’t get all three points.
“Realistically, we felt that it’s probably two points dropped here today.”
However, he also praised a “solid performance” from the team as a response to the loss in Gloucestershire on Sunday.
Referring to arguably the biggest shock, the 1-0 loss to Forest Green last week, Moore described the performance as “not good enough, for where we’re at.”
Fans of the Owls were outspoken about their concerns for the season’s end. Paul Knox, 57 said: “We’re still up there, still pushing. But it’s not looking great at the moment, no.
“The boys need to pull their socks up and get on.”
Another fan, George Summers, 21, said: “We’ve been awful lately. I don’t know what’s got into them.
“We need to get our act together or we’ll lose the title and promotion.”
Sheffield Wednesday face 14th place Lincoln City on Saturday and will be hoping for a win at Hillsborough to get them back on track.