The Owls’ Under-21s went down 2-0 to an experienced Birmingham City side in the Midlands on Wednesday afternoon.
The home side fielded the likes of Papa Bouba Diop, Keith Fahey and Pedro Ibanez and soon settled into their stride, racing into a two-goal lead they carried to the interval.
Neither team netted in a more balanced second half as Wednesday got to grips with the game, albeit without getting on the scoresheet.
Development Squad coach Lee Bullen said: “We showed too much respect to the opposition in the first half and were comfortably second best in most areas.
“The second half was much more encouraging because players took much more individual responsibility and got more tackles in.
“Again, the average age of our squad was just over 18 but the lads will learn a lot from the experience they have had today.”