Sheffield Wednesday were unable to continue the fine form that saw them score 15 goals in two midweek games as they were beaten 2-1 at non-league Grimsby Town on Saturday afternoon.
Wednesday travelled to the coast without two of the regular first-team defenders in Darren Purse and Tommy Spurr and their absence was telling as the Owls looked somewhat shaky at the back throughout the match.
Two of the Owls 8 summer signings, Giles Coke and Clinton Morrison also missed out but even without these players the 1,500 Wednesday fans that made up around half of the crowd in Cleethorpes would have expected more from their team irrespective of the importance of the result.
The home side took the lead through Connell inside twenty minutes, the striker netting with a low drive from inside the box having been picked out by former Wednesday striker Lee Peacock who had been given the Grimsby captaincy for the day.
Wednesday drew level close to half-time when Luke Boden headed in a cross from Chris Sedgwick and they squandered chances to take the lead in the early stages of the second half through both Heffernan and Johnson.
Peter Bore’s late long-range strike gave the home side victory and left Owls manager Alan Irvine with plenty to ponder ahead of the new season.
Results at the stage of the summer are not of paramount importance and defeats such as this can sometimes help a club to focus – especially in the case of Wednesday who have been widely tipped as one of the League One promotion favourites.
With four more friendlies to come before the season kicks off on August 7th the priority will still be on building up and maintaining optimal fitness whilst Irvine is also likely to tinker with different formations and utilise the full squad as much as possible before deciding on his best eleven.
The next pre-season fixture is away to Darlington on Tuesday 20th July, kick off at 7.30pm.