Return of pleasing Sheffield Wednesday trait will cause concern for Derby County, Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United

The Owls know full well that they’ll finish in third place – a sickener in many respects given the course of the season – but after a run of three wins in three find themselves narrowly leading the form table of the teams fighting to be involved.

A home date in the second leg of a play-off semi-final is often seen as preferable, something Wednesday have confirmed. They could play Bolton Wanderers, Derby County or Peterborough United depending on the outcomes of the final day.

Darren Moore’s side will of course face the prospect of a possible triple-header against Derby as they face-off in the final round of the regular season.

And after a confident 3-0 win at Shrewsbury Town that Moore admitted was their first ‘90-minute’ performance for some time, the differing nature of the three goals scored by Michael Smith harked back to the swaggering Wednesday of earlier this season.

The Owls’ first was a piece of incisive quality that moved from defence through to Lee Gregory and ended in a confident Smith finish. The second came by virtue of a Marvin Johnson cross at the by-line and the third the result of a more direct ball from defence allowing Barry Bannan to thread through a classy assist.

After a couple of months that has seen the side criticised for long periods in which they looked short on answers and committed to long balls, such a difference in these goals will serve as food for thought for first Derby and then whoever finishes in sixth place.

During a long unbeaten run through the middle period of the season, opposition managers had commented on Wednesday’s ability to score different types of goals and that quality in different areas had made it difficult for them to guard against.

“It’s about mixing it up,” Moore told The Star. “You saw the first goal, when we played through the pitch and then the third when we played over. That’s where we’ve been different this season.

“I thought last season we were maybe a little bit one-dimensional in terms of the type of goal we were getting, but that’s been Sheffield Wednesday all season – the different types of goal we’ve scored whether that be set plays, through the pitch or scoring in one.”

Shrews manager Steve Cotterill admitted on Saturday that the quality within the Owls squad was too much for his charges and though the strength and form of sides that finish in the play-off places will be significantly raised, huge encouragement can be taken from the win at New Meadow, Moore agreed.

The Wednesday manager continued: “Off the top of my head you think back to the Portsmouth game; up to Smudger, flick-on, Josh Windass, goal. Today we had one where we played through the pitch, four or five passes and a wonderful goal.

“There have been different types of goal this season, memorable goals but it’s not finished yet, we’ve still got one more game to go and we want to make sure we’re right for it this week.”

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