Scott Twine scored a rare headed goal as Bristol City reignited their Championship play-off push by climbing up to seventh with a 2-0 win against struggling Sheffield Wednesday.

Twine nodded in a cross from Ross McCrorie for his eighth goal of the season midway through the second half to break what was becoming a frustrating deadlock for the hosts.

Sam Bell then slotted in his first goal since returning to the club from a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers as the Robins entirely dominated possession and controlled the second half.

For the Owls, it was their fifth league defeat in succession as captain Barry Bannan was given a standing ovation as he was substituted off the pitch amid reports it was his final match before a move to Millwall.

The hosts' clinical edge in front of goal has been a persistent issue this season, such is head coach Gerhard Struber's desire to add another striker before the transfer window closes on 2 February.

Without top scorer and playmaker Anis Mehmeti, who left for Ipswich on Friday, their lack of go-forward was further exacerbated as they enjoyed most of the possession but created few real chances during the first half.

It was not until the 34th minute that Twine was picked out in the box by Riis' cross and should have scored only for two excellent Murphy Cooper saves in succession to deny him.

Struber brought on Sinclair Armstrong at the break and he quickly got into the action, shaking off his defender in the box and squaring to Riis but again Cooper excellently kept the Owls at 0-0 with his trailing foot, despite diving the opposite way.

Depleted and struggling, Sheffield Wednesday had zero shots on target throughout the match as their inexperienced side sat back and as the hosts ramped up the pressure eventually they found a way through.

Twine had already seen a free header miss the target but second time around he found the net, getting into a gap between two centre-halves to jump up and head in McCrorie's cross.

Bell then made it 2-0, 13 minutes after coming off the bench, pouncing onto a rebound for a simple tap-in after Armstrong was closed down in the box to wrap up a first league win since New Year's Day.

Away fans chanted 'There's only one Barry Bannan' throughout and the club veteran was given his moment in added time as he was substituted off to a standing ovation from Ashton Gate, in what looked like his final appearance in an Owls shirt after more than a decade.

Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It's always a little bit special when you play against a team where you have to win and we could see the team from Sheffield Wednesday, with all the topics that they have in the club, but I could not see the problems on the football field.

"A really well-organised team, they tried everything to bring points home today but my boys were really professional today and we had the right timing to bring them down.

"We worked really really hard, it was not always easy but we deserved the win and should have scored maybe one or other goal more."

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:

On Barry Bannan: "What I can say is that Barry wants to leave the club after the whole situation and that Barry and his representative are speaking to the club to find a solution."

On the performance: "The first seven, eight, nine minutes, it was very windy, it was very difficult and you could see all our young guys who are pushed to over the limit - it was too quick for them.

"But then how we worked into the game after 10, 12 minutes and how we played a strong first half it was impressive for the young guys because they could have also chosen another way out of this to give up."