Wrexham moved back into the Championship play-off places after their hard- fought 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Sam Smith's fourth goal in six Championship games was enough to see the Red Dragons return to sixth place after Derby's dismantling of Bristol City on Friday night.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Wednesday this season following the departure of captain and star man Barry Bannan earlier in the week.

Wrexham on the other hand, had just one loss in their last eight in all competitions before coming into this one and knew victory was a must to keep their play-off push rolling on.

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Issa Kabore was the first to test Owls goalkeeper Murphy Cooper, crashing in an effort from the edge of the box after Reece Johnson's unconvincing clearance.

At the other end, on-loan Luton man and debutant Jerry Yates had a sight of goal after being played through by Jamal Lowe but he could only drive his effort over the bar.

Nathan Broadhead could have got on the scoresheet following some good work by Callum Doyle down the left but he mistimed his header from inside the box.

Doyle then had a sight of goal himself but Liam Cooper stood firm and made a vital block to deny the defender.

Ben Sheaf could only lift his volley on to the roof of the net following a searching cross in the last chance before the interval.

The Red Dragons made the breakthrough in the 58th minute. Kabore swept in a dangerous cross from the right-hand side and Smith was there to poke the ball home at the back post.

Smith nearly got his second after a driving run from Matty James but Cooper tipped his effort round the post.

Kabore and Smith combined again, the striker this time meeting the cross at the near post, but he could only stab his effort wide of the mark.

The hosts had their best two chances of the match within a minute. First, Lowe played through Bailey Cadamarteri and keeper Arthur Okonkwo had to stand tall to keep his powerful strike out.

Svante Ingelsson whipped in the resulting corner and Lowe saw his effort from the back post cleared brilliantly off the line by James.

Wrexham were not troubled too much from that point onwards and held firm to see out the match and claim the three points.

The managers

Sheffield Wednesday's Henrik Pedersen:

"It's been a difficult week for us with Barry (Bannan) leaving and the talk around transfers, not knowing if players will leave or they won't.

"Despite that, the players brought energy to the pitch today against a very strong Wrexham team with lots of talented individuals who are fighting for the play-offs.

"In the first half, they had the ball more than us but we were compact defensively and I don't think our keeper had a difficult save to make. We had a big chance from the high press with Jerry (Yates).

"In the second half, it was very equal again. We had the big one on one chance with Bailey (Cadamarteri) and then they clear it off the line from the corner so we had chances to get back in the game.

"In general, I think it was a strong team performance. We showed more versatility and made more attacking runs in behind which is good to see."

Wrexham's Phil Parkinson:

"These games are never straightforward. I spoke to the lads yesterday about games over the last four years that we've had in similar circumstances where we've gone to teams who are at the bottom of the table and nearly all the games have had a similar feel to them.

"I'm very pleased because we had to display some real quality to get the win today and that moment of quality came with a great move down the right-hand side. It was a great cross from Issa (Kabore) and Sam did what he does in the six-yard box.

"In the first half, Wednesday dropped quickly into that low block and sometimes it can be difficult to break down, you have got to show patience which I felt we did.

"There were some really key moments for us, Matty (James) with his clearance off the line at one end in particular. We really had to earn the three points today."

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