Owls skipper Darren Purse has stressed the importance of Sheffield Wednesday's two remaining home fixtures following Bristol City's victory at Hillsborough.

Wednesday dominated in large parts, but Nicky Maynard's sixth goal in seven games won it for the visitors, as the Owls were unable to find the back of the net in a frustrating game at Hillsborough.

And Purse believes that picking up maximum points in the remaining two home games against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace will be crucial in saving Wednesday's season.

He told www.swfc.co.uk: "We're obviously disappointed with the way we played in the Bristol City game and now we're going to have to beat Sheffield United and Crystal Palace at Hillsborough if we are to stay up.

"We created a lot of chances, but you don't get anything if you don't put those chances away. I think we dominated for large parts of the second half and on another day we could have ended up winning the game, but it wasn't to be."

To add to Wednesday's woes, Purse had what seemed like a clear second half penalty turned down by referee Graham Salisbury.

He added: "I thought we should have had a penalty when their player went to ground and connected with me, but when you're down there in the league it often seems that these kind of decisions don't go for you."

"One positive is that we are creating chances and it is only a matter of time before we win a game by two or three goals. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I believe our strikers will score the goals to keep us up."

"Middlesbrough will be a tough game, but hopefully we can get that little bit of luck that has eluded us recently. We need to go and be strong and resilient and hopefully we can nick a goal like Bristol City did against us."