Sheffield Wednesday celebrations show fight from terrace outwards after 'adult football' win over Millwall

The crowd at Millwall, now on a run of seven winless matches after Wednesday's battling 2-0 win, was angsty and nervous, watching on as their side were opened up by two moments of mastery in the first half before they failed to penetrate the determined Owls in the second. The away end was jubilant, raucous and defiant. And in the final moments of the afternoon they shared a special moment with their heroes.

Football is a fickle beast of course. A result or three one way or the other and the two fan bases could quite easily flip in outlook as the relegation battle continues. Heading into a win over Birmingham City last weekend Wednesday fans were growing in angst, the first little whispers of question around messiah Danny Röhl just flirting around the edges of discourse after that afternoon of horrors at Huddersfield Town.

Though the shared jubilation of Millwall was a sight to behold as the players and then Röhl took turns to salute their adoring public, it was perhaps more the reaction of supporters at Leicester City that showed where the supporter base is at heading into what looks likely to be a few weeks in which fingernails are in danger. Owls vice-captain Liam Palmer told The Star at The Den that it was the noise created that evening, in the face of a 2-0 defeat and even during a first half in which they chased shadows, that helped to inspire their third away win of the season.

From terrace to changing room it appears to be a unit united in cause; to keep Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship. The supporters will play their part.

"It was a difficult one," Röhl told The Star. "To come here is not easy. The key today was to make the difference between home and away; at home we have good performances and good results. Today we made the difference in every duel, we won the second balls.

"I thought about what we could do here to take something. My decision was to go to a back five today, to have two number 10s in the pockets beside the number sixes to come immediately out of the second ball and this for me was key. The two goals we scored were exactly what we wanted, to find the 10s and speed up the game. It was great.

"It was adult football, if you know what I mean. In the last weeks we always talk about good performances - we are smart, we bring gifts with us, we entertain - but without results. Today it was about taking the result and it was about the team showing what we need to do in our situation and that is the key point. It was fantastic, it was a challenge to win the second balls and we did it.

"In the second half it was not nice football. We can do better but we did the right things in the right moments. The decision making was much, much better today and I think that was one of the key points to do something here.

"When we take points away it is when we have a clean sheet. If we are clinical in both boxes then we can take something and this is what we must take with us into the next weeks. We have to have the balance, especially away. At home we have always good energy, especially with the crowd and it was fantastic from my group, every player. At the end it was so great to have our supporters behind us to celebrate this win."

Was it a turning point for Wednesday? Ever-focused, Röhl answered pragmatically.

"We have had a lot of turning points!" he laughed. "For me it is about taking points, points, points. We know what we can do, we need 100 per cent in every game and if we do this then we have a chance, we need to take the positive feeling from this game and it's another difficult game against a side that beat Southampton. This is the Championship, every match is 50/50 and you have to pull this to your side and do the right things."