For Blackburn Rovers the FA Cup remains a strong option. An early goal from Chris Sutton followed by another from Tim Sherwood gave them command of last night's fourth-round tie at Hillsborough. Two minutes from time Damien Duff added a third.
Duff (18), a Republic of Ireland youth international and a likely callup to Mick McCarthy's next squad, ran onto Jason Wilcox's pass, lobbed it over Wednesday defender Ian Nolan, transferred the ball from his right foot to his left and flicked it home from eight yards - manager Roy Hodgson's reward was to substitute him immediately.
Yet, had Sheffield Wednesday taken half their chances, they would surely have made West Ham wait a little longer to discover who their fifth-round opponents at Upton Park might be.
Five months and one manager ago, Wednesday were routed 7-2 by Blackburn at Ewood Park, but since Ron Atkinson's arrival they have acquired a durability and Rovers could only share a scoreless draw at Hillsborough on St Stephen's Day.
However, Roy Hodgson's side bubbled with the confidence of players beaten only four times in 27 fixtures this season, with the scoring partnership of Sutton and Kevin Gallacher bearing rich fruit.
Wednesday begun buoyantly, with Benito Carbone taking on Blackburn defenders two at a time. But no sooner had Wednesday congratulated themselves on forcing a corner than Rovers went ahead in the fifth minute.
Stuart Ripley's consistent form on the right wing has been as important to Blackburn this season as the scoring feats of Sutton and Gallacher. His speed turned Wednesday's defence, he drove the ball across hard and low, Jon Newsome missed an attempt at a first-time clearance and Sutton's scoring instincts did the rest. Kevin Pressman had no chance of stopping the emphatic shot Sutton hooked past him.
Wednesday continued to create space near goal but, when they lost possession, Peter Atherton and Jim Magilton had difficulty coping with the passing and movement of Billy McKinlay, Sherwood and Duff.
Still, Wednesday came close to drawing level midway through the first half. Colin Hendry nodded out a high ball straight to Guy Whittingham on the right, and Whittingham's cross found Newsome surging through the middle for a powerful header which Tim Flowers, back fully arched, tipped over.
By half-time Blackburn were two ahead following a classical piece of counter-attacking. In the 37th minute, Jim Magilton's forward lob caught Blackburn square and Petter Rudi loped through as Flowers came out too late to intercept him. But, with the goalkeeper stranded, Stephane Henchoz got across and cleared the ball before Rudi could find the net.
Blackburn hit Wednesday on the recoil. Sherwood and Sutton worked the ball to Wilcox, who set up Gallacher for a shot which drew an excellent blocking save from Pressman. But Sherwood had kept on running and met the loose ball with a shot that left Wednesday's Cup run looking like a brief jog.
Sheffield Wednesday: Pressman, Atherton, Nolan, Pembridge, Newsome, Walker, Whittingham (Humphreys 61), Carbone, Di Canio, Magilton (Oakes 61), Rudi. Subs Not Used: Clarke, Nicol, Stefanovic. Booked: Carbone.
Blackburn: Flowers, Kenna, Sherwood, Hendry, Ripley (Valery 29), Gallacher, Sutton, Wilcox, McKinlay, Henchoz, Duff (Andersson 88). Subs Not Used: Pedersen, Beattie, Fettis. Booked: Valery. Goals: Sutton 6, Sherwood 37, Duff 87. Att: 15,940.
Referee: J T Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
