Looking back there was a host of different moments. Drawing against Exeter at home was highly furstrating and you can look back at games like Wycombe away and Tranmere at home and think fook me, if only we'd won that. Oldham was crippling. Had we drawn that game and got a result at Walsall we'd not be in this mess. We scored goals away in the latter match, but without any of the first choice defence then were pants at the back.
McDonald getting injured was a crucial moment for me. I think with him in the team we'd have got a result at the Sty. That would pretty much have killed off Wednesday's chances. I also think that we'd have picked up more points in the subsequent games. We had to completely change our style and did not play the same without him. It is no conincidence that we were completely controlling games before he got injured and we won 6 on the bounce when he came back. I believe we'd have challenged Charlton if he'd stayed fit (and Evans was not locked up).
The court verdict seemed to knock the stuffing out of the team, but last week we blew yet another chance. All we had to do was get a result at home. We had a week to prepare and get ready. We knew Stevenage were solid, physically fit and would defend and then counter. We got outplayed for 6o mins. The way they almost crumbled under our pressure late on just frustrates you more, as if we'd played like that from the start (or even h/t) we'd have won.
It is difficult to take anything away from Wednesday. They have had a bit of luck, but they have been clinical. Their battling and never say die attititude has to be (begrudgingly) admired. Looking back on our mistakes, you can also look at Wednesday's fortunes. Madine equalising with the last kick of the game at home to Walsall, Antonio getting the late winner a couple of weeks ago, Rochdale missing a pen etc.
I am unsure about counting ourselves unlucky. Their is a strong case for this in that we could get over 90 points and not get promoted. McDonald getting injured when he did and the Ched verdict were very unlucky. Also, it has been highly frustrating that the Pigs have played games before us and been able to put pressure on. But we have always known we had to do. We've also been pretty lucky with injuries for the most part. It is incredible that young Maguire has played almost every game and Lowton and Collins have only missed a couple. Our rock solid defence had, until recently, been one of the key factors in our promotion campaign.
