Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore hailed his side’s perseverance after Lee Gregory’s stoppage- time strike earned a 2-1 victory over Wimbledon at Hillsborough.

Jack Hunt headed Wednesday into an early lead which was cancelled out by Ayoub Assal for the visitors, who had Mark Bowen in charge for the first time.

Moore said: “We’re really pleased with the three points. It was a very difficult game for us.

“We didn’t play well, our game was too slow and we needed more energy. We knew it would be tough with the low block Wimbledon played.

“I am happy with the way the boys kept going. We weren’t great in the second half but we did get more into the game.

“We know most teams aren’t going to come here and play open football and why would they?

“We wouldn’t have got that result six months ago and such is the show of our climb in terms of where we are at as a club.

“I’m delighted the fans got to witness that late goal because these are the moments that will really help us towards the end of the season.”

The Owls made the perfect start when captain Barry Bannan whipped in a dangerous cross and Hunt converted with a diving header in the 11th minute.

The away side responded well to going behind and found an equaliser after 22 minutes.

Zach Robinson beat the offside trap and squared to Assal, who smashed the ball into the top corner past keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Wimbledon made it difficult for the home side for the remainder of the half and went into the break deservedly level.

Assal could have snatched a winner for the Dons with 10 minutes to play but Peacock-Farrell came out on top in the one-on-one.

Just as Wimbledon thought they had done enough to claim a vital point, two minutes into added time Gregory headed in to send the home faithful wild.

Bowen said: “There were lots and lots of positives.

“We go from thinking we’re going to win with that late chance and then lose in the 92nd minute. We just switched off for one moment.

“We showed nerves at the start but the goal we scored was excellent, we showed great character to get back.

“For all the possession Wednesday had, I said to the lads I thought we had the better chances in the first half and we certainly had the best chance of the second half.

“For the fans to travel all that way is amazing. It would’ve been nice to give them something but hopefully they saw the spark we have.

“This performance makes me confident we can do enough over the next six games to stay in this league.”