Eiran Cashin scored his first Blackburn goal as they beat Sheffield Wednesday to climb out of the Championship relegation zone in their first game since manager Valerien Ismael’s sacking.

Ismael was dismissed on Monday, with Blackburn in the bottom three following an eight-game winless run, and coach Damien Johnson is in temporary charge again.

Cashin, who joined on loan from Brighton earlier this month, netted on his fifth appearance to lift Rovers above West Bromwich Albion on goal difference.

Wednesday’s losing run was extended to eight matches and with the Owls a whopping 39 points below the safety line, they could be relegated this month – possibly against Steel City rivals Sheffield United on 22 February.

Blackburn recorded their first win since beating Millwall on 20 December, but the result papered over the huge cracks at the club and they – and their fans in the sparse Ewood Park crowd – had to endure a nervy second half.

Too many players, such as Todd Cantwell, had off nights, and they will need to improve under Ismael’s successor if they are to avoid a first return to League One since 2018.

Cashin made the breakthrough after 12 minutes when Ryoya Morishita fizzed in the ball and the Irish defender coolly applied the finishing touch at the near post.

Hayden Carter, who made his first appearance since 13 September and only his second of the season, threatened and keeper Murphy Cooper saved the defender’s header.

Cooper made an even better stop when he touched Sondre Tronstad’s 20-yard shot onto the post, before he also denied Moussa Baradji.

Blackburn lost their way to let Wednesday into the game and the Owls nearly equalised at the start of the second half. Balazs Toth made a fine save before Jamal Lowe’s header was cleared off the line and came back off the crossbar.