Ross Wallace put Sheffield Wednesday in front after 19 minutes but Freddie Sears equalised for the Blues two minutes later with the scoreline remaining 1-1 at half-time.

Mick McCarthy made two changes to the team which started last week’s 2-2 opening day Championship draw at Brentford with Christophe Berra and Jonathan Douglas replacing Josh Emmanuel, who dropped to the bench, and Kevin Bru, who is out with a hamstring injury.

Berra was in his usual position at the centre of the defence with skipper Luke Chambers returning to right-back.

Left-back Jonas Knudsen and winger Ainsley Maitland-Niles made their home debuts, while Douglas was making his first league start for Town. Former Wednesday midfielder Giles Coke was on the bench.

Wallace saw an early shot deflect wide as the visitors looked the more threatening side early on.

In the fourth minute Marco Matias took the ball inside Chambers from the left before hitting a low shot which struck the post and fell safely for the Blues. Moments later, Douglas was booked for a late tackle midway inside the Town half.

The Blues started to make some impact at the other end of the field and on seven Daryl Murphy turned Maitland-Niles’s corner from the right towards goal but Owls keeper Keiren Westwood saved at his left post.

Town began to dominate, winning a number of corners, and on 11 Murphy curled a strike from the edge of the box that his Ireland team-mate Westwood palmed away.

Fraser went close on 18 after Maitland-Niles crossed deep from the right, the on-loan Bournemouth man’s shot deflecting off Jack Hunt and over. From the resultant corner the ball was flicked onto Sears but the Blues frontman was unable to get in a shot.

Despite the Blues having been on top, Wednesday went ahead in the 19th minute. Matias again got the better of Chambers on the Owls left and cut the ball across. Bialkowski was only able to get a hand to it and Wallace smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

But the lead lasted only two minutes. Wednesday skipper Glen Loovens and Jeremy Helan allowed a Chambers long ball to bounce between them and Sears nipped in behind to slam a low shot between Westwood and his near post to claim his first goal of the campaign.

As the game moved towards the half-hour mark there was a lengthy stoppage to allow keeper Westwood - a Town target during Roy Keane’s time in charge - to undergo treatment after clashing with Maitland-Niles after Fraser had sent over a cross from the left. Eventually he was able to continue.

On 31 Cole Skuse made an important saving challenge as Matias looked to get onto Lucas Joao’s clever flick inside the area after the Portuguese forward had broken into the box on the left unchallenged.

Maitland-Niles moved into the centre of the midfield in the closing stages of the half with Sears switching to wide on the right as Town matched the visitors’ five-man midfield.

After the lengthy break for Westwood’s injury the game rather lost its momentum with chances rare at either end in the final 10 minutes of the half.

However, as the fourth official raised his board Sears nutmegged Helan and brought the ball to the edge of the box before hitting a deflected shot which Westwood claimed to his left.

Maitland-Niles moved to the left and Fraser to the centre for the remainder of injury time but the Blues were unable to create any more opportunities before the break.

After Wednesday had started strongly, the Blues got on top and the visitors’ goal came against the run of play. Having got back on terms with a goal the Owls management will have been less than impressed by, Town might well have pushed on but they lost their impetus after the break for Westwood’s injury and only rarely threatened in the final minutes of the half.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Douglas, Maitland-Niles, Fraser, Murphy, Sears. Subs: Gerken, McGoldrick, Pitman, Coke, Tabb, Emmanuel, Touré.

Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Helan, Lees, Loovens (c), Hutchinson, Matias, McGugan, Lopez, Wallace, Joao. Subs: Wildsmith, Palmer, Semedo, Nuhiu, Lee, Sasso, Sougou. Referee: James Linington (Newport Isle-of-Wight).

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich58 added 17:11 - Aug 15 McCarthy .. Chambers NOT a right back. Wake up....
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