Championship: Blackburn Rovers 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0

A second-minute Grant Hanley goal was enough for Blackburn Rovers to edge Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in the Championship on Wednesday.

Blackburn had not won since Steve Kean resigned as manager last month, while Wednesday had to go back to August for their last victory and had slipped into the relegation places.

In a rip-roaring start at Ewood Park, it was the visitors who should have drawn first blood, but Paul Madine headed over from close range from a darting Paul Corry cross.

It proved a costly miss because within sixty seconds Rovers were in front.

Veteran midfielder David Dunn might have lost some of the industry of his younger days, but he is still a class act and shrugged off Barkley before firing over a low cross that was tapped home by Hanley.

It could have been worse for Wednesday almost immediately, but Colin Kazim-Richards volleyed a Gael Givet cross wide at the back post.

It took the visitors until the half-hour mark to begin to challenge Blackburn’s position.

Miguel Llera fired a free kick narrowly wide of the target after Bradley Orr fouled Michail Antonio on the edge of the box.

Just a minute later, Antonio wasted a glorious chance when he volleyed wide from 15 yards with just Robinson to beat.

Rovers suffered a setback when Dunn limped off on 34 minutes with a leg injury to be replaced by Ruben Rochina, and the Spaniard announced his presence with a rasping 30-yard drive that Kirkland did well to parry wide.

The impressive Llera looked visitors’ most likely route back to parity and almost delivered within two minutes of the restart but his back-post header sailed just wide of the post.

Blackburn were now playing second fiddle to their opponents but they continued to threaten on the break and another fierce drive from Rochina warmed Chris Kirkland’s hands.

The game lost much of its flow in the second period but Rovers almost tied up the points late on when substitute Mortem Gamst Pedersen’s 25-yard free-kick was cleared off the line by Llera before the impressive Rochina fired just over after a lung-bursting run.

The win leaves Blackburn fifth on the table, five points back from leaders Leicester City.

Wednesday are second bottom and without a win in their last nine league matches.