Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws was glad to see his side withstand an early onslaught from Cardiff to come away with a precious 1-0 win.

The three points have also lifted Wednesday out of the relegation places at the foot of the Championship.

"At this stage, and in the position we are in, a win is a win," Laws stated. "This is a positive win; we are not going to produce brilliant performances at this stage because nerves will take some effect.

"I thought there were nerves in our performance in the first 15 minutes. Cardiff were on the crest of a wave and full of confidence and we really had to tighten up because every time we got the ball we gave it back to them. That showed the difference between a team with confidence and a team without it," the Owls boss continued.

"But we went on to dig in and have some controlled passing which allowed us to get further up the field. We had a couple of chances to score, Showunmi flashed a header across goal and that lifted the crowd. Then, all importantly, the goal gave everyone a huge lift and the confidence started to flood back into the players."

The Wednesday chief admitted he was delighted to go into the break 1-0 up after the visitors had dictated large patterns of play in the opening period. But the Owls went on to control the game much more effectively after the interval

"I was glad to get in at half time because we had been too wide open at times," Laws said. "We dug in more in the second half and looked more comfortable. We defended well when necessary and I thought it was a bit nervy towards the end but it's always going to be like that when you are only 1-0 up.

"Looking at the table and seeing us out of the bottom three for the first time in a while is very welcome. Every win we get is going to be a big win and this one certainly was today."

However, the team was once again struck by injuries, with three players being forced off the pitch.

Laws added: "I have never had a settled side this season, I would love to have named the same side I had last year week in, week out, my job would be an absolute doddle because the team picks itself but today we have taken another three injuries.

"Lee Bullen has come off with a hamstring injury which doesn't look good. Jermaine Johnson took a kick to his ankle, along with Showunmi and it shows you that with nearly every game that goes by something is happening to us."

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