Sheffield Wednesday have been boosted by the chance to retain Championship status with a win over Crystal Palace on the last day of the season.

Manager Alan Irvine, visited the club where he played for several years on Monday night with the Owls' position in the division hanging in the balance.

And the Wednesday chief admitted he had mixed feelings visiting the home of SWFC's final day opponents.

"I met a lot of people I know from the club and we said that it was not the kind of situation that we really wanted," Irvine said. "Ironically, Paul Hart has links here too. It's one of those situations in which you are going to feel some sadness one way or another but the important thing for us is that we win the game and stay in the division.

"Monday's result makes all the difference," Irvine continued. "I knew that I was going to be driving back up from London, either thinking about how we prepare to stay in the league or how we prepare for the next division. Clearly I am an awful lot happier that we are still in with a chance of staying in this division."

The Owls boss stressed that his players were totally focused on the task at hand and wanted to ensure there was a reversal of the feelings experienced after the defeat at Cardiff last Saturday.

"Our players have been very focused, very determined and obviously delighted to get this opportunity because our dressing room was a very unhappy place on Saturday," he told Wednesday Player.

"We've now been given a lifeline but it's not a foregone conclusion. Some people might think that because it's at Hillsborough we'll have a massive crowd so we will win the game but it's not going to be as simple as that. It's a really tough game and everybody knows that. It's important that we don't go into the game thinking West Brom have done our job for us; they haven't, they've given us another chance."

Commenting on the task at hand, Irvine insisted that preparations would be paramount:

"It is about making sure that we do the right things because you want to make sure that the work is done but you don't want to leave anything on the training ground. We are going to need all of our energy, we are going to need lots of drive and determination, and we are going to have to play at a high tempo from the first whistle until the end of the game. It's important that we have the energy to do that and that we have our minds right to do it because it's vital that we go into this game without anybody feeling the slightest bit jaded."

And Irvine is also boosted by having a fully fit first team squad at his disposal for the first time in several weeks.

"Everybody trained today which is great news. If we can keep everybody fit for when the game starts then that is great because it gives me a lot of options. Tommy Miller is training again, Lewis Buxton is training again and because of the importance of the game it would be worth gambling if we felt they were the right players to play. If there was nothing riding on the game we probably wouldn't take any risks but those two lads I've just mentioned will certainly be in contention for places."