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.

Blackburn caretaker boss Damien Johnson told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"We all knew it was a big game for us tonight. It's not been an easy 24 hours. So the message was can we get that win? And it didn't really matter how we did it, we just needed to get it over the line. It wasn't pretty at times, but unbelievable credit to the players, they were fantastic."

On Eiran Cashin scoring his first Blackburn goal: "It's good when defenders can chip in with goals, so we're really pleased. Cash has been terrific since he's been at the club.

"It was a good little period for us, we had a couple of crosses and shots, so it was nice to convert the chance because we know how important the first goals are."

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"I think all the boys really, really, really, really look forward to scoring a goal again, but there's no way out.

"We're working a lot with the set-up, the build-up, and we do that well. We also saw that today, but to create something, we need to have more dribbling, we need to speed up the game, because we cannot play with the same speed and expect to create.

"We work a lot on that in the training. Of course, it could be a theme, but I think the courage, the braveness, it's OK to miss a pass if you want to make a difference.

"It's OK because we have our press. So it's a mindset that we have to risk and be ready to make mistakes with the ball, but we also have to bring more balls into the box."