Sheffield Wednesday made it five wins in succession on Tuesday evening as they saw off bottom of the table Walsall at Hillsborough by three goals to nil.
Buoyed by a 4-1 win at the weekend, the Owls were looking to strengthen their play-off position against the struggling saddlers and boss Alan Irvine made two changes to the team that won handsomely at the weekend. Nicky Weaver returned to replace his able deputy Arron Jameson in goal and left-back Daniel Jones came into the side at the expense of the injured Lewis Buxton, causing a slight reshuffle in the back four with Tommy Spurr starting at right-back.
The in-form Owls wasted now time in stamping their authority on proceedings and were in front after just seven minutes. Teale raided down the left and when Walsall fail to clear his cross effectively Potter fires home a low strike from 25-yards.
Teale continued to cause problems as the visitors offered little in response, seeing a cross-shot palmed away by Walker in the Walsall goal then cutting inside and firing a shot just over the bar around the twenty-minute mark. Five minutes later the Saddlers were dealt a blow when experienced striker Jon Macken was forced off with an injury, to e replaced by Liam Dickinson. Despite this setback the away side finally looked like they might get a foothold in the game and it was the substitute who spurned a fine chance of an equaliser, heading wide when well placed just before the half-hour. The last ten minutes of the half saw chances for both sides, Weaver denying Ruben Reid at one end and Walker saving from Miller following a neat exchange with Mellor. Reid hit an effort just wide as the first half concluded and Wednesday would have probably been happy to hear the whistle having lost their early momentum as the half wore on.
With the Owls failing to pick up the tempo in the early stages of the second half Irvine sent on Jermaine Johnson in place of Sedgwick to try and spark the home side into life once more. Although the visitors rarely threatened at 1-0 they were always in with a chance and Reid almost capitalised on some sloppy play only to be denied by a last ditch Beevers challenge.
As the match moved into the final twenty minutes Weaver was forced into action twice in a matter of moments to deny Matt Richards and substitute Will Grigg but with fifteen minutes to go the Owls gave themselves some breathing space, much to the relief of the Hillsborough faithful. A Teale cross towards the back post was met with interest by Beevers with a powerful header to double the advantage.
Richards saw another effort deflected wide shortly after but the Saddlers seemed deflated by the second goal and with eight minutes to go Morrison put the gloss on the victory, heading home from a corner at the near post with the influential Teale once again providing the assist. Wednesday were denied a fourth in the last minute as Walker saved from Morrison. 3-0 may have flattered the home side a little as it wasn't the most convincing performance, however it was a deserved victory, with another clean sheet to boot and one which sees the Owls move up to fourth place in League One with the focus, on the pitch at least, now moving to two cup ties in the next seven days.