Brian Laws left Bloomfield Road angered by his side's first half performance and a lack of discipline which cost the Owls in a 2-1 defeat.

Wednesday were dumped back into the bottom three and the team struggled after going a goal down in the sixth minute.

Richard Wood grabbed an equaliser but the home side went back in front before the break. Peter Gilbert's dismissal five minutes after the restart gave the Owls a hill to climb with ten men.

"First and foremost we put in a poor first half performance, we were bullied, particularly in the midfield. We lost too many first balls and second balls and they obviously got a lift as we gave away an early goal yet again," Laws said.

"That gave us a kick up the backside but instead of staying calm and solid until half time we started chasing things and left ourselves open and of course the second goal by Dickov has given the home side a massive lift right on half time."

Laws was angered by Peter Gilbert's sending off and the turmoil which surrounded it and confirmed the player would be fined for his indiscipline. He is also likely to be suspended for the remaining two games of this season.

"The sending off was obviously a turning point and I think we could be talking about this one for weeks," Laws continued. "I haven't seen a replay as yet but what disappoints me is that I told the players that Dickov is an experienced player and a manipulator on the park; he can use his experience and wind you up, don't fall into the trap.

"What did we do? We fell into the trap. He (Dickov) has wound Gilbert up and he bit. Dickov gave him a good nudge and I am not sure exactly what happened but Gilbert obviously responded. From that moment on the controversy started to spin out of all control. The referee sent Gilbert off then he took a red out that was going to be for Dickov, then he said it's a penalty, then he says it's not, then he gave him a yellow and gave us a free kick. What is all that about?

"You talk about turning points in games and to get anything from a game you want eleven players on the park. From then we knew we were trailing but we had nothing to hang on to. I played a 3-4-2 to get them playing higher up the park but inevitably that left us exposed.

"If we had played as we did with ten players in the second half with eleven players in the first half we might have got something out of the game," the manager concluded.

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