West Brom 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 - Report

Carlos Corberan's side made it back-to-back wins, and five unbeaten including three draws, as a hapless Wednesday side showed all the hallmarks of sure-fire relegation candidates.

Regardless, building on Saturday's excellent display and win at Preston with another three points moved the hosts up to fifth in the Championship table ahead of Friday night's derby at Blues.

It wasn't totally convincing against the drastically poor Owls - who with the defeat ensured themselves officially the worst start to a Championship season in history - especially given Swift's fine early goal set the hosts on their way early.

It seemed Corberan's side may build on the opening goal but at times Albion seemed to find the contest too easy and struggled to find the tempo or creativity to further add to the scoresheet, with a particularly lifeless second half, though the job had already proven to be done.

But with just a trip to Small Heath left before the October international break, the Baggies will feel well-placed in as the season begins to settle into a pattern after 10 games.

Corberan had been weighing up whether to make any changes from the impressive success at Preston and opted on just the single alteration of Brandon Thomas-Asante for Grady Diangana, who dropped to the bench.

There was no place in the matchday squad for Jeremy Sarmiento, with the Brighton loanee sidelined with a minor knock and expected back after the upcoming international break.

Thomas-Asante led the line with Wallace back to his typical role on the right flank having impressed up front at Deepdale. Semi Ajayi returned to the bench after an ankle injury.

Troubled Wednesday and under-fire boss Xisco Munoz rolled the dice significantly in the hunt of a first win and made seven changes while changing to a 4-4-2. Wednesday were without key men Barry Bannan and Josh Windass.

The hosts delivered on supporters' hopes of a quick, front-footed start as John Swift's strike deflected wide from distance before Kyle Bartley couldn't get the required purchase on a header.

Wednesday showed signs of settling but Corberan's men put that to bed with a 12th minute lead.

Darnell Furlong released Wallace down the right flank with a lovely ball. The captain reached the byline before spotting Swift and his low cut-back was perfect for Albion's top scorer to sweep a fine first-time finish into the near top corner above Devis Vasquez.

It was just the settler the Baggies needed though hearts were in mouths when Erik Pieters misjudged a clearance and Ashley Fletcher's cross was just too strong for Michael Smith.

Wednesday looked poor and spent most of the first penned in. Albion delivered countless lovely balls from the flank through Swift, Furlong and Matt Phillips but were unable to find the touch for a killer second goal.

The Baggies were woken up midway through the first half with Alex Palmer at his best for an excellent save to tip away Tyreeq Bakinson's top corner-bound curler from distance.

Kyle Bartley fluffed his lines with an air-shot from a corner before Okay Yokuslu was somehow denied by Vasquez's foot after another corner scramble with the Owls consistently failing to clear their lines.

Another chance for two came and went as Phillips was unable to beat Vasquez from close range after Bartley sent a header goalwards from yet another Swift set-piece delivery.

Palmer was busy again, though, on the stroke of half-time to keep out Fletcher's low strike from a narrow angle as Wednesday sounded another warning.

The second half struggled to get going as a contest. Albion were the better side for the first 15 minutes of it but struggled to force any real threat other than a wonderful 25-yard curler from Swift that flew a couple of yards over.

A nervier edge increased around the stadium as the hosts hunted for gears to click through. Phillips sent a rising strike on the spin over from 18 yards midway through the half before he was sacrificed for Conor Townsend.

Albion didn't get going in the second period and were slow and sloppy at times. It transcended to the stands inside the final 20 minutes with a heart-in-mouth moment as Palmer failed to clear after racing outside the box.

The Baggies survived but scarcely worked a threat of their own. It wasn't pretty or overly convincing but it was job done for Corberan's men.

Teams

Albion (3-4-3): Palmer; Kipre, Bartley, Pieters; Furlong, Yokuslu, Mowatt, Phillips (Townsend, 69); Wallace, Thomas-Asante (Diangana, 86), Swift (Chalobah, 90+3).

Subs not used: Griffiths, Pipa, Ajayi, Taylor, Molumby, Fellows.

Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Vasquez; Palmer (c), Famewo, Bernard, Iorfa; Delgado (Valentin, 58), Bakinson (Hendrick, 77), Vaulks (Buckley, 77), Musaba (Wilks, 77); Smith, Fletcher (Gassama, 63)

Subs not used: Dawson, Byers, Gregory, Paterson.

Attendance: 22,553 (1,919 Sheffield Wednesday fans)

Referee: John Busby