Sheffield Wednesday have moved to within a point of the Championship playoff spots by beating Rotherham United 2-1 at the New York Stadium.
In a cagey start to the match, Rotherham threatened with a speculative strike from Jonson Clarke-Harris, whose swerving effort from 25 yards was collected by Kieran Westwood at the second attempt.
The striker was involved again when Danny Collins flicked on a corner, but Clarke-Harris and Matt Derbyshire both failed to add the finishing touch at the back post after going for the same ball.
It was Wednesday who finished the first half the stronger of the two sides, and they came agonisingly close to taking the lead on the counter-attack when Barry Bannan broke free before attempting to lob Lee Camp with a header that sent the ball just over.
Carlos Carvalhal made the perfect start to the second half as they claimed the lead just 30 seconds after the break when Lucas Joao tapped home after Camp could only parry Fernando Forestieri's effort.
Rotherham were unable to recover from the setback as the Owls struck just a few minutes later when Camp paid the price for pushing Daniel Pudil's header straight to Forestieri, who capitalised to fire the ball in from close range.
Opportunities would arrive for the hosts as they looked to produce a comeback, with Derbyshire heading wide of the target before substitute Chris Maguire tested Camp with a free kick against his former side.
However, the away side remained in control of the game throughout the second half and should have added to their lead when Bannan shot wide after being found by the influential Forestieri.
Bannan proved to be a key figure in the win, but he missed another good chance late on when he dragged a shot past the post as Wednesday threatened to make it an emphatic victory.
There was time for Rotherham to find a consolation in the last minute of stoppage time when Tom Thorpe found space at the back post to finish calmly at the back post, but Rotherham collected all three points to make it seven games unbeaten in the league.
Callum Mulvihill
