One Sheffield Wednesday star was an ‘absolute nuisance’ during their 1-1 draw with Stoke City.
Sheffield Wednesday desperately needed a win yesterday as they looked to finally climb out of their relegation zone, and it almost looked like their dreams had come true.
The Owls dominated the early stages of their meeting with Stoke City yesterday and eventually ended the game with 15 shots and 55% possession, however it took them until past the hour mark to open the scoring.
Liam Palmer’s first goal of the season looked to be the most important of the lot as it was met by a chorus of cheers throughout Hillsborough. The goal lifted them out of the bottom three in the Championship.
However, Danny Rohl‘s side couldn’t make it count as Luke Cundle equalised for the Potters only eight minutes later.
Wednesday were forced to settle for the draw and still sit one point from safety.
However, that wasn’t to say there wasn’t a number of positive performances during the game.
An ‘absolute nuisance’ for Stoke City to handle
One player who particularly impressed was Michael Smith, who proved to be an ‘absolute nuisance’.
The 32-year-old started up front alongside Ike Ugbo yesterday, who had 32 touches, two shots (and hit the woodwork), won five headers and was fouled once.
Following the match, Smith was given a seven rating by The Star. Journalist Joe Crann wrote: “Made an absolute nuisance of himself against Stoke, holding the ball up well and winning plenty in the air as Wednesday tried make their dominance count. Hit the crossbar with a good effort, and also saw a goal chalked off for a foul.”
What Michael Smith brings to Sheffield Wednesday
Michael Smith has really proven himself in recent matches, having started Sheffield Wednesday’s last three games after previously making only one start since November.
The forward ‘worked very hard’ against Norwich as he scored his first goal since October, and put on another solid showing against Stoke.
While he hasn’t proven to be the solution to the Owls’ long-standing goal issue, he has definitely been really important in other areas – in particular, in the air.
Smith has now won 15 headers across his three starts, giving Rohl a completely new dimension to their attack, after struggling to offer an aerial presence for most of the campaign.
With the striker heavily linked with the exit door back in January, it will be interesting to see what the summer brings for him.
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