Michael Smith once again came off the bench to score a vital goal for Sheffield Wednesday in their 1-0 win at Swansea.
Smith hammered home from the edge of the area in the 66th minute after man-of-the-match Josh Windass had nipped in to steal a weak pass out of defence by Harry Darling.
The Wednesday skipper drove to the box and then squared to Smith, who notched his eighth goal of the season and his third as a substitute in his last four games.
The win took Danny Rohl’s side up to eighth place and to within two points of the Championship play-off places, while the Swans stay in 17th.
Wednesday applied the early pressure and skipper Windass created the first opening of the game for Ike Ugbo in the ninth minute. A beautifully-struck pass gave Ugbo the chance to burst between two defenders but Darling took the ball off his toe.
Windass continued to make his presence felt and a shot on the turn from the edge of the area whistled past the left post with home keeper Lawrence Vigouroux rooted to the spot.
The Owls skipper was at it again midway through the first half with a cross-shot from the right that beat everyone in the box and went inches past the post.
At the other end Swansea had trouble creating much as they continued to come to terms with the loss of chief playmaker Matt Grimes.
New recruit Lewis O’Brien, on loan from Nottingham Forest, tried his best to initiate some go-forward in midfield, but the only attempts on goal were a long shot from Zan Vipotnik that went way over the bar and a cross from the right by Ronald that had James Beadle scrambling in the Wednesday goal.
Swansea started the second half more brightly and a cross from Ronald on the right was met on the run by Myles Peart-Harris, whose header forced Beadle into his first real save of the game.
After Windass had set up the Smith goal, Wednesday went into cruise control and Vigouroux had to move smartly to stifle another shot from the visiting skipper soon after the goal and then beat away a fierce header from Smith from a corner.
There was almost a sting in the tail when Jay Fulton put the ball in the Wednesday net in the last play of the match in the 94th minute but it was ruled out for offside.
