Wickham double sees off table-toppers and hands managerless Owls survival boost -Sheffield Wednesday 2 Leicester 1

Wickham double sees off table-toppers and hands managerless Owls survival boost -Sheffield Wednesday 2 Leicester 1

Every time he hits the net, the odds on Connor Wickham staying at Wednesday beyond January recede a little more.
Wickham is a striker on a hot streak. Parent club Sunderland are having problems in the cow's backside and banjo department. The solution is obvious.
Gus Poyet can recall the on-loan forward in the New Year so  managerless and relegation-threatened Wednesday need to make the most of him until then.

At the double: Connor Wickham is mobbed after scoring for Sheffield Wednesday against Leicester

Catch me if you can: Anthony Knockaert opens the scoring for Leicester with just three minutes gone

Match facts

Sheff Wed: Martinez, Lee, Roger Johnson, Loovens (Llera 89), Mattock, Palmer, Coke (Semedo 72), Olofinjana, Maghoma, Wickham, Nuhui (Jermaine Johnson 82).
Subs Not Used: Kirkland, McCabe, Helan, McPhail.
Booked: Mattock.
Goals: Wickham 9, 25.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Wasilewski, Morgan, Miquel, Konchesky, Knockaert (Hammond 46), Drinkwater, James, Dyer (Schlupp 78), Vardy, Nugent (Wood 68).
Subs Not Used: King, Moore, Taylor-Fletcher, Logan.
Goals: Knockaert 3.
Attendance: 20,016
Referee: Mark Brown (East Yorkshire).

Despite Leicester taking an early lead, he scored twice before half-time to take his tally to four in five league games.

Not surprisingly, the pre-match talk was dominated by the speculation over sacked Dave Jones' successor - and the name on the lips was Neil Warnock.

Wednesday fans do not have fond memories of the former Sheffield United manager but they are a pragmatic lot at Hillsborough and recognise Warnock fits the bill.
He is available, willing to commit just for the season and has a knack for rescuing clubs. Owner Milan Mandaric wants to sell and would also favour a short-term appointment so experienced Warnock is the hot favourite.

Against the backdrop of that managerial upheaval, leaders Leicester arrived on the back of a healthy run of six wins in seven matches. But boss Nigel Pearson, once a non-nonsense defender at Wednesday, would not have got carried away by his team's lightning start.

Frenchman Anthony Knockaert jinked into the area and his rising shot gave Damian Martinez no chance. With less than three minutes on the clock, caretaker Stuart Gray must have thought it was going to be one of those nights.

Take two: Wickham is expected to return to parent club Sunderland when they can recall him in the New Year

Time to celebrate: Wednesday duo Damien Martinez and Liam Palmer celebrate after the final whistle

Late bid: Kasper Schmeichel goes up for a corner as Leicester desperately tried to get something from the game

Wednesday skipper Roger Johnson was scathing about his team-mates' attitude in the defeat at Blackpool on Saturday which was the final straw for Jones.

There was plenty of spirit in evidence on Tuesday night, however. Wickham's double was delightful - both goals coming from right-wing crosses - and it might even have been a quickfire hat-trick but for Kasper Schmeichel's save.

Having taken the lead, the only question was whether Wednesday could hold out for what would only be their second win of the season.

It depended on whether Leicester could rouse themselves from a very under-whelming first half. There was more urgency from the visitors after the break and David Nugent came close to adding to his 10-goal tally but was denied by a good save from Martinez.

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