A strike in the second half from Lewis McGugan was enough to hand Sheffield Wednesday a 1-0 victory over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road this afternoon.
The visitors had the first opening of the game when McGugan found space to run at goal and drive an effort towards the net, but his strike went just over the bar.
Blackpool began to assert themselves on the match and had their first opening when David Perkins latched onto a loose ball just outside the box, but his shot was straight at Keiren Westwood.
The Owls came close to taking the lead when McGugan ran down the right flank and directed a cross into the box for the run of Atdhe Nuhiu, only for the striker to guide his close-range header over the bar.
Wednesday began to up the ante as Chris Maguire cut in from the left wing and fired a powerful strike towards the net, but Elliot Parish was on hand to make the stop.
In the second half, the Owls took the lead when they won a free kick down the left and McGugan's delivery evaded the head of every player in the penalty area and nestled past Parish into the bottom corner.
Nuhiu came close to doubling his side's advantage minutes later as Tom Lees knocked the ball into his path from a corner, but the striker was denied by a good save at his near post by Parish.
Blackpool pushed to get back into the game late on and Grant Hall headed an effort just wide of the post from a free kick, but they could not get the breakthrough as the Owls held out for the three points.
Simon Sinclair
