Sheffield Wednesday coach makes frank assessment on Sheffield United scrap after another dominant win

A well-taken opener from Cian Flannery and a towering brace of headers from centre-half Adam Adetoro gave the Owls youngsters a deserved 3-1 win over QPR, who are placed second in the southern division. The win allowed Wednesday to leapfrog their city rivals Sheffield United into second place behind Birmingham City, though the Blades' four games in hand make them big favourites to win the Northern title.

The top two will qualify for a play-off with their southern counterparts and it is on that boss Andy Holdsworth is focusing. "The lads are getting a successful run together which is pleasing, performances are going in the right direction and the principles we're trying to put in are going in the right direction," he told The Star. "We're ticking those boxes.

"Today went alright, we started off brightly. We've had a habit of creating numerous chances in the first 20 minutes or so and not being able to see the game off. We got a sucker punch for them to equalise and we deserved what we got out of the game but we should have had a lot more goals."

Bright performances from Favor Onukwuli and Jay Buchan were among the catalysts for a handsome Wednesday win. Asked whether Wednesday could win the league in the face of their rivals' position of strength, Holdsworth said honestly: "I think it'll be a tough ask.

"There are a lot of teams around us with games in hand and I think we'd probably have to go unbeaten between now and the end of the season to be in and around it. The pushing point for us is to try and get into the play-offs. If we can do that? Excellent. But this has been a good season for us in terms of the boys who have spent time with the first team and the development of players. Winning leagues is nice, but the development of players is the first thing."