Sheffield Wednesday have taken a 1-0 lead into the halfway stage of their Championship clash with 10-man Queens Park Rangers this evening.

The visitors were the first to have a decent sight of goal when they took Wednesday by surprise with a quick free kick that Clint Hill nodded just wide.

They threatened again five minutes later with a promising attack that eventually ended with Karl Henry flashing a shot over the crossbar.

Wednesday began to come into the match soon after that and had their first opening in the 16th minute when Chris Maguire's cross was headed wide by Leon Best.

QPR came close again shortly after the half-hour mark when Ravel Morrison struck a half-volley through a crowd of players, but Damian Martinez was able to make the save.

The turning point of the half came just two minutes later as Richard Dunne brought down Best inside the area, conceding a penalty and receiving a red card to add insult to injury.

Maguire stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Brian Murphy the wrong way to give the Owls the lead.

The hosts could have doubled their advantage before the break when Caolan Lavery went for goal, but Murphy denied him before making an even better stop to keep Atdhe Nuhiu out in stoppage time.