Sheffield Wednesday boss Brian Laws admitted his side must be more clinical after they conceded a last-minute goal against Crystal Palace.Crystal Palace defender Matt Lawrence broke Wednesday's hearts with an equaliser with almost the last kick of the game as the game ended 2-2, a result which keeps the Owls in the relegation zone.
Wednesday appeared to be heading for a vital victory against relegation when Lawrence struck but Laws refused to be downhearted.
He said: "We didn't look like a struggling side. We just needed to finish Palace off.
"We'll just have to take it on the chin. It was probably route one football at the end and we switched off.
"We knew they would throw everything at us, especially with the clock ticking away. But if we perform like that and show the desire we'll win a lot of game. We're playing with a lot of confidence and we kept our run going.
"The fact is we are better off than last week. We are getting closer to the teams above us and we have games in hand. We have been here and in this position for a while and we've got the mental attitude and toughness to stand it.
"Some might say its two points lost and we could have moved up four or five places but we're also one point closer than last week."
In an open and entertaining game both sides created chances.
In the fifth minute Palace striker Clinton Morrison saw his effort pushed on to the bar by Owls keeper Lee Grant.
Five minutes later Wednesday midfielder Sean McAllister saw his fierce drive clip the outside of the post but on-loan Chelsea striker Ben Sahar struck for the Owls in the 18th minute.
Sahar finished off a four-man move to calmly fire past Palace keeper Julian Speroni to get his debut off to a flying start.
But Palace were level five minutes before half-time, Palace midfielder Ben Watson was brought down by Owls defender Richard Hinds but he picked himself up to fire home the free kick from 25 yards.
After the interval Wednesday midfielder Graham Kavanagh saw his fierce free kick take a wicked deflection that clipped the bar but Wednesday's pressure paid off and they went ahead through winger Wade Small.
The flying winger was sent clear by Dion Burton to score his fourth goal of the season before Lawrence's late intervention.
The Wednesday fans gave Palace boss Neil Warnock plenty of stick during the game but the former Blades boss had the last laugh when Lawrence popped up to secure a vital point for Palace to keep their play-off hopes alive. Warnock said: "We've got a never-give-up attitude. I'd rather be at the top end of the table than the bottom and it's great to be involved with six games to go.
"We threw all the big men forward at the end and our goalkeeper was marking their striker at the end."
More Football News from TEAMtalk



