For the record Liam Ridgewell headed in a Mcsheffrey free kick in the third minute with his third touch of the ball. The man who has crossed over from the dark side had made two passes, one successful, one not, before opening his Blues account. If ever a player wanted to make a good impression that was the way to do it. He should have added a second ten minutes later when Larsson supplied another free kick but Ridgewell’s header just wide.

The boy did OK and although physically he is a slightly taller Kenny Cunningham and joins us at about the same age as Matty Upson he will be compared more to Upson. Although he is not in the Upson class yet at this stage of his development he is probably ahead of where the Arsenal man was when he joined us.

Blues’ other signing looked a little off the pace but physically he is every bit a premiership player and Steve Bruce can now look on his back four choices as complete. He conceded a penalty when he tripped Leroy Johnson but Colin Doyle saved the penalty easily from Brunt.

The Hossam Ghaly situation beggars belief and he makes Mike Newell look like a candidate for a loyalty award. How a player can join a club and play his face up on day one is beyond me. The Egyptian obviously wanted to duck out of the deal which is the only reason one can assume he conducted himself in this way.

Thankfully we are 9 million pounds better off and rid of two ‘nutters’. While Blues have impressed in their last two games with the new signings showing up well our central midfield still looks in need of a quality player.

Our two ‘destroyers’ at the moment are Nafti and Muamba, who while they tackle like demons, are not over blessed with passing ability. Yesterday Mcsheffrey and Larsson in particular were the sole source of midfield creativity with Larsson looking to be a Freddie Lundburg in the making. Ridgewell created the second goal for O’Connor with a sweet 50 yard measured pass which the big Scotsman slotted home with a deceptively delicate touch.

When De Ridder and Kapo replaced the two wide men they made some sensational runs with long and short passing which bamboozled the Wednesday defence. Both should have ended mazy runs with a goal but just were lacking in sharpness. We have yet to see Kapo play centrally but it must be an option. Ghaly’s departure has saved Kilkenny from exile to Oldham and he showed at least enough creativity in his 15 minutes on the field to expect better than six months in the third division.

Now seven days away from the clash at Stamford Bridge we actually look in better shape than Chelsea. TV has shown us their embarrassing defeat at Ibrox with a full side and now they are whining on about injuries. They were not impressive in the Charity Shield and should they actually have a lengthy injury list Blues may have some hope.

Owls: Grant; Hinds (Lunt 52), Bullen (Capt), Wood, Gilbert; Johnson (McAllister 83), Whelan, Watson, Brunt; Tudgay (O’Brien 85), Clarke (Small h-t).

Subs not used: Burch, Lunt, Spurr, O’Brien, McMenamin, Small, McAllister.

Blues: Doyle; Kelly, Martin Taylor, Ridgewell, Queudrue (Tebily 65); Larsson (De Ridder 65), Muamba, Nafti (Danns 76), McSheffrey (Vine 76), Forssell (O’Connor 36), Jerome (Kapo 65).

Subs not used: Maik Taylor, Jaidi

Goals: Ridgewell (3), O’Connor (66)

Attendance: 5,689

Report by Alan Watton