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*Thompson leaves it late to stun Owls*

These are terribly bleak days at Hillsborough as Sheffield Wednesday’s second lowest Premiership crowd of the season, just over 18,000, left for home last night with nothing to comfort them from this barren performance against a make-do and mend Villa side who won the match in injury time with a headed goal by Alan Thompson from Steve Stone’s cross.

Watford’s manager Graham Taylor remarked last weekend that, with relegation a virtual certainty, there were times when he wishes it could be over and done with and the new season begun. Wednesday would surely agree now, and welcome the hangman’s rope as a friend.

Wednesday had every reason to fancy their chances with Villa’s team much changed from their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday. No Gareth Southgate, no George Boateng, no Paul Merson - and, above all, for the sake of spice and perhaps spite, no Benito Carbone.

But although Villa were not exactly brimming with confidence for much of the time against Bolton, trusting more to caution than flair for fear of losing a second semi-final, they were generally quicker to the ball and considerably more poised than Wednesday.

Dion Dublin, making his first start since his neck operation, had an early chance to underline Villa’s general dominance, latching on to a ball from Mark Delaney, but the England striker knocked the chance wide. Even before that Alan Wright had picked out Thompson, only for Kevin Pressman to take his shot comfortably.

Wednesday’s main threat coming from Gilles de Bilde via the left, the Belgian beating David James with a low shot from Andy Hinchcliffe’s swift cross but hitting the outside of the post.

Dublin made more solid contact with the woodwork three minutes before half-time when his carefully controlled header from Lee Hendrie’s floated cross just lacked the angle to slip inside Pressman’s right-hand post with the Wednesday goalkeeper comprehensively beaten.

John Gregory continued to shuffle his side around in the second half, as if anxious to give everyone a kick rather than the result of any coherent thought process. And for a while Wednesday seemed as if they might profit from Villa’s understandable lack of cohesion.

The small amount of half decent football on display in the first half fast disappeared into the clear skies, although there was just a chance that Wednesday’s sense of urgency, befitting their parlous position, might break the mediocre deadlock.

But it was Thompson who managed this as the match drifted towards its conclusion and it was hardly a surprise.