NU WAY OWLS ARE IN FLAP OVER DROP

BARNSLEY

Mcburnie 21

SHEFF WED

Nuhiu 18 pen SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY are not used to relegation battles, but their flirtation with the drop zone is showing no sign of letting up.

With just one win in 15 league matches, they have slipped to within six points of the Championship’s bottom three.

Atdhe Nuhiu’s first-half penalty looked to be putting them back on track at Barnsley, only for Oli Mcburnie to equalise three minutes later.

High-flying Derby County visit tomorrow amid an Owls injury crisis that ruled out 15 first-team players for the Oakwell trip.

Glenn Loovens and Jacob Butterfield could return, though major improvements are still needed to ensure safety for last season’s play-off semi-finalists.

“We can’t worry about when injured players are coming back,” said Nuhiu (above), who has four goals in his last six games. “When they were playing we weren’t in a different position. It would help if they were here but it isn’t like we were in second or third and are now dropping.

“We’re not here to cry about it. I haven’t seen one player who has been hiding or scared.”

A draw was not enough to stop Barnsley – who saw boss Paul Heckingbottom quit last week to join Leeds – from slipping into the relegation zone, though Mcburnie’s stunning strike marked an impressive home debut for the Swansea loanee.

He said: “If we keep performing like that and get a bit of the rub of the green, then we will be fine.”