EDDIE Howe absolved Adam Smith of any blame after his intervention had led to Sheffield Wednesday winning a late penalty on Saturday.

Smith was judged to have fouled Owls substitute Atdhe Nuhiu with Chris Maguire netting the resultant penalty to earn the visitors a draw.

Howe said: “It happened so quickly and we felt for Adam. It was a tough one for him to take individually. He felt the responsibility after the game and I think our message is very clear to him.

“He has been excellent for us this season whenever he has played and we stand shoulder to shoulder with him and tell him how much we love him because that could have happened to any of our players, it just happened to be Adam.”