Defiant Barry Bannan makes honest assessment on need for Sheffield Wednesday transfer activity

That's according to Owls captain Barry Bannan, who speaking to The Star made clear that while his preference would be for a handful of new faces adding competition for places in the squad, the notion that Wednesday will likely go down without reinforcements is, in his mind, incorrect. Bannan has made reference to the squad's record of proving doubters wrong on numerous occasions in recent months and appears to be in the mood to repeat the trick.

The Scot is climbing high in the club's list of all-time appearance holders and made his 384th appearance in their FA Cup clash with Coventry City on Friday night. He has said that survival this season, after the horror start they suffered, would be among the better achievements in a long Wednesday career.

Wednesday have found the transfer market tough this time out, with two loan signings early doors in James Beadle and Ike Ugbo yet to be followed up with additions in further key positions. Deals for prospective signings have fallen through late and while progress appears to have been slow-going of late, there is hope the Owls can give themselves a boost with the addition of new names in the coming days.

"It would be good to add to the squad," Bannan said. "The manager has made it quite clear that he's still out there trying to get people in, so it would be good. When new players come in, it pushes players on that maybe feel comfortable. It's good for the club, you should never be guaranteed to play and when a new player comes in it brings that, it pushes everybody and it lifts everybody. It would be good to get players in.

"If not, then this is the group we've got going forward and we're more than confident that this group we've got here, if not added to, can get us over the line."