Struggling Sheffield Wednesday had to settle for a point after Stoke substitute Luke Cundle cancelled out Liam Palmer’s opener to earn a 1-1 draw.

The result dealt Wednesday a real blow in their bid to avoid the drop due to results elsewhere.

Marvin Johnson, Ike Ugbo and Will Vaulks were all restored to Wednesday’s starting line-up.

Stoke boss Steven Schumacher made six changes, recalling Tyrese Campbell, Mehdi Leris, Sead Haksabanovic, Ben Wilmot, Jordan Thompson and Lewis Baker.

The visitors were put under pressure from the start with Palmer the first to threaten, firing in a drive which was deflected off-target.

Ugbo then saw his effort kept out by Daniel Iversen, and Michael Ihiekwe’s header was cleared off the line by Campbell.

Michael Smith went close to breaking Stoke’s resistance when his shot struck the bar in the eighth minute.

As Wednesday continued to dominate, Pol Valentin fired over later in the half, with Stoke failing to pose a serious attacking threat during the first half.

The closest they came to a chance was in the final minute of the half when Baker’s free-kick led to a scramble in the penalty area before Wilmot put the ball wide.

The Stoke line-up showed a change at the start of the second period with Bae Jun-ho coming on in place of Haksabanovic.

The visitors were forced to make a further change just four minutes after the restart when Wouter Burger had to go off after receiving treatment, with Enda Stevens coming on in his place.

Wednesday keeper James Beadle was called into action for the first time to save Jun-ho’s long-range effort.

Beadle then made a comfortable save from Campbell’s deflected shot soon afterwards.

As Stoke looked to capitalise on their impressive start to the second half, Baker sent a free-kick a fraction wide of Beadle’s left-hand post.

The home side responded with Ihiekwe heading just wide from Vaulks’ delivery.

Midway through the second period, Wednesday manager Danny Rohl made an attacking change, with Callum Paterson taking over from Josh Windass.

The opening goal finally came in the 68th minute when Barry Bannan’s cross was headed back by Ihiekwe to Palmer, who found the net with an emphatic finish.

Cundle, who had only been on the field for a few minutes, equalised in the 76th minute. Campbell found Cundle in space on the left-hand side and he advanced into the area before slotting past Beadle.

Stoke skipper Josh Laurent then had a shot which hit the side-netting.

Jun-ho threatened late on with a goal-bound shot which struck team-mate Cundle.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl feels his team’s hunger is powering their form and it helped them to beat relegation rivals Rotherham 1-0.

Ike Ugbo netted his sixth goal in five matches to hand Wednesday a valuable win in their relegation battle, taking them three points from safety and leaving Rotherham 19 points adrift at the bottom.

The Owls have now won three games on the bounce and continue to pile the pressure on the teams above them.

Rohl said: “It was a big one. I am very proud of my team at the moment. It is outstanding what they are doing.

“Everybody knows Rotherham are always difficult with the second balls and set-plays.

“At half-time I said it was great what we were doing. But we had to score with the next chance.

“It was a big impact from our subs. A draw was not enough. I had to change the shape and we scored immediately. Then it was about bringing the game home.

“Our defending at the moment is great to see. We are finding a balance between playing nice football and making the right steps.

“Rotherham did not really have a big chance. It was always about us. At the moment we are bringing the games home.

“The performances from my team are outstanding. The mentality we have – everybody is hungry and I am very proud of what we are doing.

“We are the hunter at the moment and we have the momentum.”

Rotherham weathered a storm throughout the first half with Wednesday coming close a number of times.

The visitors thought they had struck when Akin Famewo headed in Will Vaulks’ free-kick but it was ruled out for offside.

Wingers Ian Poveda and Anthony Musaba posed most of the danger themselves and both came close after cutting in off their flanks.

Rotherham threatened properly for the first time early in the second period when Sam Nombe’s effort glided just over the bar.

Wednesday built patiently for their opener and got it in the 66th minute with a flowing team move.

Barry Bannan and Ugbo were both involved before Dominic Iorfa picked out the in-form striker to stroke home.

Bannan was then pivotal at the other end as he got a desperate block on Andy Rinomhota’s effort to prevent a leveller.

It was actually Wednesday looking more likely in stoppage time and substitute Mallik Wilks’ header rattled off the post from Marvin Johnson’s cross.

Rotherham head coach Leam Richardson said: “It was frustrating and I am gutted for the fans really. In a derby you want to give a strong positive result for them.

“The lads got emotionally attached to the game a little bit.

“The second half was evenly balanced but the goal is horrendous from our point of view. They’re all avoidable but it takes the same pattern at the minute where we are competitive to a level but then we are looking for that quality and momentum to go our way.

“We are very fix and mend at the minute with players playing out of position. There is disparity in the squad. We are limited in a lot of areas and we have six players on the bench.

“Whatever we lack in certain areas it’s not a will to win. Our levels seem to drop after 60-70 minutes.”

Danny Rohl hailed his Sheffield Wednesday side’s defensive discipline as they held on for a vital 1-0 win over Preston.

The Owls picked up their fourth victory in seven games thanks to Marvin Johnson’s first-half strike but were forced to hang on for their win after George Byers was sent off late on.

Preston had nine shots, but only two on target, as they desperately searched for an equaliser but none came as they drop to 11th in the Championship table.

Wednesday remain in the relegation zone despite claiming three points at Deepdale and face high-flying Hull next on New Year’s Day.

“It was a really tough game for us, but I expected that exactly,” Wednesday manager Rohl said.

“A big topic in our chat before the game was the importance of defending – we knew we’d have to do a lot of that tonight.

“Our defending in and around our box was brilliant. We’ve put in a great performance and done really well to get a big three points.

“The performance was not the best at times, mainly due to some poor positioning I suppose, but the players really fought all night and that was fantastic to see.”

Wednesday were backed by over 5,000 fans who filled an end at Deepdale and were not dampened by the driving rain, or Preston’s brighter start to the match.

North End skipper Alan Browne went close with a thumping drive early on before Wednesday replied as Will Vaulks headed inches over as he darted in to meet Djeidi Gassama’s cross.

Preston went close again as Browne worked the ball tidily out to Duane Holmes, and he turned inside before drilling an angled effort just over the crossbar.

But it was Wednesday who went ahead after 27 minutes as Johnson coolly slotted past Freddie Woodman after racing on to Bailey Cadamarteri’s precise through-ball.

Rohl added: “This was massive for the fans too. I think there were more than 5,000 of them here tonight, and I enjoyed celebrating with them at the end.

“I think they all recognise exactly what we are trying to do now – they can all see how close we are.

“Maybe we were a little bit lucky to get all three points in the end, but again we showed lots of that fighting spirit and we did what we had to do.”

Preston spurned chance after chance in the second half, but were given a lifeline in the 85th minute when Byers was sent off for a challenge on Mads Frokjaer-Jensen.

However, North End still could not find a way through as the full-time whistle sparked jubilant scenes for the Wednesday players and their travelling faithful.

And while Wednesday will look to ride the high from their win, Preston boss Ryan Lowe has called on his side to bounce back as they prepare to go to Sunderland on Monday.

He said: “It’s a massively frustrating night.

“There was certainly no lack of effort and determination from my lads, and the commitment was definitely there.

“We just didn’t quite do enough in the final third and didn’t get people in the right areas enough.

“We didn’t put quality balls into the right areas, and that’s cost us in the end.

“It’s about us bouncing back now. We had good moments, but we’ve just not found the finish.”

Championship bottom club Sheffield Wednesday recorded just their second win of the season as they beat Blackburn 3-1 at Hillsborough.

Bailey Cadamarteri, Marvin Johnson and Josh Windass were on target as the hosts ended the four-match winless run they had endured since they broke their duck against Rotherham in late October.

The in-form Sammie Szmodics had scored an equaliser for the visitors, who would have moved into the play-off places with a win.

Wednesday boss Danny Rohl handed a recall to Windass after suspension, with Johnson making way.

The Blackburn line-up showed two changes with Harry Leonard and Scott Wharton coming in while Tyrhys Dolan and Lewis Travis missed out through injury and suspension respectively.

There was an early blow for the hosts when Dominic Iorfa pulled up inside the opening minute with an injury. After receiving treatment, he was forced to go off.

Cadamarteri, the son of former Everton and Sheffield United striker Danny, opened his senior goalscoring account as he gave the Owls the lead after just five minutes.

On his second senior start, the 18-year-old produced a good near-post finish after connecting with Windass’ low cross.

Blackburn’s Callum Brittain fired off target with an effort from inside the area as the visitors tried to respond.

But Windass threatened twice in quick succession, first with a long-range shot which was well saved by by Leopold Wahlstedt and then seeing an effort blocked.

George Byers also tested Wahlstedt, with the keeper getting down low to his left to make the save.

Blackburn enjoyed a good spell towards the end of the half.

Di’Shon Bernard did well to intercept and clear when Harry Pickering played a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Hayden Carter then had a shot blocked by Bambo Diaby before Szmodics had a couple of chances, seeing a shot on the turn saved by Cameron Dawson and then having an angled effort comfortably saved.

Cadamarteri had a good chance to score soon after the interval, firing straight at Wahlstedt after receiving a pass from Barry Bannan.

Szmodics equalised in the 65th minute when he met James Hill’s cross with a far-post header to score his seventh goal in five appearances.

But Wednesday regained the lead with 12 minutes left when half-time substitute Johnson made a driving run into the area and fired hard and low into the bottom corner.

To add to Blackburn’s woes, manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was shown a red card after protesting to the match officials following the goal.

Wednesday added a third goal in added time when Szmodics’ shot was charged down and the ball fell to Windass, who ran from his own half before slotting past the advancing Wahlstedt.