Barry Bannan selection shock – rotation policy over Sheffield Wednesday star man explained

He has been named on the bench and it is not yet confirmed as to whether the Scotland international is carrying a knock, with clarity from Darren Moore expected when he speaks to the media post-match.

Speaking to The Star on Saturday in the moments after their 1-0 win against Charlton Athletic however, Moore did hint that his star man could be subject to squad rotation over the next few weeks.

“We have to rotate him around as well,” Moore said. “He’s not going to play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday. Because with the magnitude of games we have to rotate. That’s what we’ve got the squad for and that’s why we’ve tried to double up with two players in each position.

“If one dips, we can put the other one in to keep the momentum going.”

Bannan, 31, has made 312 appearances for Wednesday and has more or less been the first name on the team sheet since he arrived at the club in 2015.

He has sat out of only one league starting line-up since Moore’s arrival at S6, a 2-1 win at Wigan Athletic in September last year. Bannan made the bench and was an unused substitute, with Moore later explaining he was carrying a knock.

In-form Josh Windass has also been left out, with Moore having previously spoken about the need to manage his work load after last season’s injury concerns. The midfield three will be occupied by Will Vaulks, Tyreeq Bakinson and George Byers. Callum Paterson partners the returning Lee Gregory up front.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru has dropped to the bench and Jack Hunt has not made the matchday squad at all in a much-rotated line-up.

“The decisions we make are always with the best intentions; to win,” Moore continued when speaking last weekend.

“This is the mentality and the culture I’m trying to change at the football club; we’re all in it together, we all swim the tide together. We all win, or we don’t win, but we do that together.

“We’ve won games with Barry Bannan in and we’ve lost games with Barry Bannan in. It’s a squad, it’s a team. It’s not like being a tennis player or a snooker player where you go and play on your own, we’re a team.

“The team is always bigger than one individual and that’s always been the message here. If anything happens to Baz – and god willing it doesn’t – we have to carry on.”