Coventry's Promotion Bid Put on Hold After Goalless Draw with Sheffield Wednesday

Championship leaders Coventry were denied the chance to move within a point of promotion to the Premier League after being held to a 0-0 draw by already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday. Frank Lampard's side would have been promoted with a win, provided Middlesbrough failed to beat Portsmouth later in the day. The result marked only the third point of 2026 for Sheffield Wednesday, who set a new Football League record of 37 games without a win in all competitions. The hosts had several opportunities to take the lead, with Milan van Ewijk and Brandon Thomas-Asante coming close, but were unable to break the deadlock. The meeting between the two teams was the largest points difference for a match in Football League history, with 89 points separating the teams at the start of the day. Coventry had thumped the Owls 5-0 at Hillsborough in October, but Wednesday put up a much stronger fight this time around. The visitors started the second half brightly, with Manchester City loanee Jaden Heskey crossing for Jerry Yates, who turned his effort past the post. Thomas-Asante, who was recalled to the starting line-up, had a chance to score but his air kick was met with groans from the record attendance of 31,476 inside the CBS Arena. The hosts had appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Matthew Donohue with 20 minutes to go, and substitute Josh Eccles headed Matt Grimes' free-kick inches wide of the post. Frustrations threatened to boil over in the closing stages as Liam Kitching and a member of the Sheffield Wednesday medical team clashed as they came onto the field to treat Tayo Adaramola. Substitute Ellis Simms saw his overhead kick deflected narrowly past the upright as promotion will have to wait until another day for the Sky Blues. Coventry manager Frank Lampard said: 'I think there's understandable elements to the game, there's a bit of tension to do that and a lot of the players are probably living this situation for the first time.' Sheffield Wednesday's Henrik Pedersen was proud of his team's performance, saying: 'We knew to take something here today, it should be a top, top plus performance. But we also spoke about that we are coming here not just to be a part of the game, we go here with the belief that we can do it.'