Atdhe Nuhiu’s fifth minute goal sees the Blues trailing Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at the break at Hillsborough.
Cole Skuse, who missed the weekend victory over Rotherham with a toe injury, and the rested Teddy Bishop returned in place of Kevin Bru and Paul Anderson, who both dropped to the bench, in an otherwise unchanged team.
New loan signing Jonny Williams was on the bench as manager Mick McCarthy continued with his three-man Irish-qualifying strike force of David McGoldrick, Daryl Murphy and Conor Sammon in front of watching Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill.
After a quiet opening spell Wednesday threatened first in the fifth minute when the ball was laid across to Chris Maguire, who hit a low shot from just outside the area which Dean Gerken did well to save down to his right, Jonny Parr putting the loose ball behind for a corner.
And from the flag-kick the Owls went in front. Jacques Maghoma whipped the ball over from the left and big Austrian striker Nuhiu flicked a near-post header into the roof of the net giving Gerken no chance.
The Blues looked to get back on terms quickly, Lewis Buxton doing well to dispossess Sammon when the striker looked to have got in behind him.
After Chris Maguire had scraped a shot wide for the Owls, McGoldrick tried to work himself some space on the right of the Wednesday penalty area but shot weakly to one-time Town target Keiren Westwood in the home goal.
Wednesday thought they’d doubled their lead in the 24th minute, again from a corner, this time on the right. Nuhiu powered a header goalwards and Gerken did superbly to stick out a hand to stop it. Kamil Zayatte was first to the loose ball and hit the back of the net but referee Darren Bond disallowed the goal, apparently for a push.
It was a lucky escape for the Blues, who were finding 6ft 6in tall Nuhiu very difficult to deal with from set pieces. On 27 Gerken palmed away a Mahoma corner from the left, not entirely comfortably.
A minute later, Westwood appeared to handle outside the area to his left as he beat Sammon to the ball but referee Bond felt otherwise.
Wednesday were forced into a substitution in the 39th minute when centre-half Zayatte suffered what looked to be a hamstring injury, Claude Dielna taking over.
Town were continuing to have most of the ball but without creating anything in front of goal. On 43 Luke Hyam hit a shot from the edge of the box which Westwood claimed at the second attempt but which should have been easy for the Irish international keeper.
The Blues carved out their first real chance in the final scheduled minute. Mings sent over a cross from the left and Murphy rose high to nod it only just beyond Westwood’s right post.
At the other end, Gerken did well to save Maguire’s powerful low strike before Murphy had another opportunity. This time Hyam crossed from the left and the Irish striker nodded over while stretching to reach the ball. Sammon behind him might have been better placed to add the final touch.
The half ended soon afterwards with the Blues still trailing by Nuhiu’s early goal. Town had enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession throughout the half but without creating anything of note until the two late chances.
Murphy will feel he should have scored the first, while Sammon may well have been better able to finish the second had his fellow striker realised he was behind him.
Wednesday had offered little in open play aside from a few distance efforts from Maguire, but always looked a danger from set pieces with the Blues having trouble coping with scorer Nuhiu’s aerial threat.
Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Buxton, Mattock, Loovens (c), Zayatte (Dielna 39), Semedo, Palmer, Maghoma, Maguire, Nuhiu, May. Subs: Kirkland, Coke, Drenthe, Helan, Hope, Madine.
Town: Gerken, Parr, Mings, Berra, Chambers (c), Skuse, Hyam, Bishop, McGoldrick, Murphy, Sammon. Subs: Bialkowski, Smith, Anderson, Bajner, Bru, Tabb, Williams. Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire).