Morgan Whittaker's early goal at a near-empty Hillsborough sealed Middlesbrough a 1-0 win against bottom club Sheffield Wednesday and lifted them to within a point of Championship leaders Coventry.

Whittaker struck for the second game running in the sixth minute and that proved enough for Rob Edwards' side, who should have won by a wider margin and had a stonewall penalty turned down.

Wednesday remain winless in six home league games this season after slipping to their third straight defeat.

There was a minute's applause before kick-off for former Owls owner Milan Mandaric, who died earlier this month aged 87.

Mandaric sold the club after five years at the helm in 2015 to current owner Dejphon Chansiri, whose own tenure has descended into chaos.

Image: Morgan Whittaker celebrates in front of a near-empty stand at Hillsborough

Owls fans stepped up their protest against the Thai businessman - amid reports of a pending winding-up order for an unpaid tax bill - by boycotting the game in their thousands.

Row upon row of empty seats on three sides of the stadium were in stark contrast to the sold-out away end, which was soon bouncing...