Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall scored their first goals for Sheffield Wednesday as Carlos Carvalhal's side solidified their spot in the Championship playoffs with a 3-0 win over Birmingham City on Friday night.

A fast start from the home side saw Rhodes cause problems with his smart movement in the final third, while Barry Bannan tested the palms of Tomasz Kuszczak with a strike in the sixth minute of action.

Birmingham continued to sit back as the play developed, and Wednesday deservedly took the lead in the ninth minute when Rhodes rose highest inside the box to place a close-range header into the back of the net on his home debut.

The away side's first real chance of the match arrived in the 19th minute when Emilio Nsue found space inside the Wednesday box after a smart move, but his effort smashed against the crossbar.

Birmingham enjoyed the majority of the possession in the latter stages of the first period as they looked to level the scores before the break, but Keiren Westwood remained largely untroubled between the sticks.

Winnall might have sent the home side two goals ahead early in the second period after being fed through by Ross Wallace, but Kuszczak was on hand to make a smart save.

Craig Gardner hit the crossbar for Birmingham 15 minutes from time as the visitors continued to look dangerous, but Winnall converted an excellent Jack Hunt cross in the 80th minute to double Wednesday's lead, before Adam Reach burst through six minutes later and slotted into the bottom corner for 3-0.

Wednesday are now five points clear of seventh-placed Norwich City in the table, while Birmingham remain in 12th position as Gianfranco Zola's problems continue.