Rafa Benitez didn’t wear a coat on a bitter Tyneside night and he was left feeling the bite of a fourth home defeat of the season which suggests Newcastle will not be allowed an easy passage back into the Premier League in 2017.
Sheffield Wednesday were good value for a third straight victory which keeps them four points inside the play-off zone and their winner arrived from the most unlikely source, centre-back Glenn Loovens scoring for the first time since netting in a 6-0 rout for Celtic at Kilmarnock nearly five years ago.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will find themselves kicked from the summit of the Championship should Brighton win at home to QPR tonight.