Football matches are defined by small margins and, whatever your view on events at Hillsborough, it was clear which moment decided Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Blackburn Rovers.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side fell to defeat in S6 after second-half goals from Marvin Johnson and Josh Windass. It ends their fantastic run away from home with a frustrating result in the midst of a positive week.

Three matches in seven days is tough for any side, let alone an injury-stricken squad. Rovers were dealt further disappointment this week by losing Tyrhys Dolan and then Arnor Sigurdsson dropped out with a groin complaint on Friday.

That meant the average age of the bench was just over 20 years old. There were nine Championship starts between them, coming between Jake Garrett and Dilan Markanday, with five players who hadn't made their league debut.

READ MORE: Szmodics gives verdict on controversial goal

It was not difficult to predict what Tomasson's starting team would be because, they simply didn't have any other options. The head coach made one, like-for-like change, in the game, a further reflection of that.

Of their three performances in the last week, this was the most disjointed. Rovers looked jaded in the opening 25 minutes and did not cope with Wednesday's high press.

Tomasson had warned his side that Danny Rohl's side may be bottom of the Championship but they are a different beast since he took charge. Leicester City discovered that on Wednesday night and Blackburn suffered the same fate early on.

Bailey Cadarmateri's goals was symptomatic of the laboured start. James Hill's header was loose, Hayden Carter couldn't stop the cross and the young striker got ahead of Scott Wharton to score. All small errors in isolation but that half a percent is telling at Championship level.

Rovers' passing was not as crisp as usual. Some were astray, others slightly behind their team-mate, halting any momentum, and others were erratic. It all pointed to a team that was running low on gas after a taxing week.

The full-backs weren't operating in their usual set-up. James Hill was marauding forward with Harry Pickering tucking to make the back-three build-up shape, rather than drifting into midfield as he normally did.

Some of the square pegs that had looked perfectly fine in other matches began to look quite round. Callum Brittain had a tough afternoon playing on the left of Rovers' attack. Every time he received the ball, he had to check inside and it just disrupted the rhythm of the attack. It was a surprise that he and Andrew Moran didn't swap sides at any point given the lack of change they received from their full-backs.

Familiar readers of our Sunday analysis will remember the blanket analogy from a few weeks ago. Wednesday were pressing from the front fantastically well but it left big spaces in-behind and Rovers started to exploit that.

They improved as the half wore on with Sam Szmodics testing Cameron Dawson. Suddenly, the home side started to look like a team that had one once all season with crosses flying in from every angle.

Rovers' persistence eventually paid off, with the Championship's leading marksman poaching at the back post. It was a great cross from Hill to pick him out and from then, there looked only one winner.

The momentum was firmly with the away side and that will have irked Tomasson all the more. The Rovers head coach could not hide his frustrations as he was sent off for his remonstrations at Johnson's crucial strike.

The incident in question surrounds Hill, who was blocked and grappled by Callum Paterson. If you're a Wednesday fan, you'd argue it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. If you're of a Rovers persuasion, it's easy to see why you'd feel aggrieved. Paterson makes no play for the ball and clearly stops Hill from trying to engage with Johnson to stop the shot. If the referee spots it, I suspect it would've been a foul.

With Tomasson sent to the stands, Rovers ploughed on but had little resources to call upon. They were then quite unfortunate with the third, as Szmodics' shot was blocked by Windass and landed perfectly for him to run through and score. Game over.

Walking away from Hillsborough, it's a marker of how far this team has come that there is genuine disappointment at such a narrow defeat. Rovers weren't sparkling, and it was a tired performance in parts, but they probably still did enough for a point on the balance of play.

Wednesday dominated the first 25 minutes. Rovers had their own spell of superiority in the second half and the rest was quite even. I don't think many would've grumbled at a point apiece.

Looking at the bench, it's remarkable that this young group remain seventh, only two points adrift of the top six. Whilst they may have fewer points than at this stage last year, they are a far better football team.

It once again underlined that Tomasson and the players are eking out every last sinew. You couldn't ask more and, in my opinion, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Championship manager achieving more relative to the tools at their disposal.

But that can only take you so far. With a group of teenagers on the bench and a stretched squad, Rovers must accept days like this will happen. 

Tomasson will be grateful for a free week to prepare for Leeds. It's a rare opportunity in a hectic December, with the Wednesday game the first of seven fixtures this month. They will be praying not to pick up any more knocks this week and will at least have Lewis Travis back from suspension.

Ultimately, Rovers' season won't be defined by a tight refereeing call at Hillsborough. The biggest factors will be they can recover some players, get a bit of luck on the injury front and maybe add one or two in January.