Owls favourite is back at S6 and wants promotion...

Barry Bannan says he has to ‘prove’ himself again at Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls legend is back at the club after short stint at Millwall last season. The 36-year-old made almost 500 appearances across 10 years at Hillsborough before departing in January and then returning to S6 this summer.

Despite his status as a fan favourite, the central midfielder is determined to remind everyone of what he can do. Despite his status as a fan favourite, the central midfielder is determined to remind everyone of what he can do. He wasted no time doing exactly that on Saturday, providing a brilliant assist for Jamal Lowe in the win against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.

“This season for me is a big, big season coming back to the club again, and I have to prove myself again,” he told talkSport. “There's a lot of good players fighting for the midfield position, so I've set my own targets again for this season, and I can't wait to get going again. It feels as if I've never been away, and it's great to be back and really enjoying it again.”

The mood around Wednesday is in stark contrast to 12 months ago when they were plunged into a desperate situation, which ended in administration and relegation. Although the road to recovery is likely to be long, great strides have been made on and off the pitch ahead of the new league season starting against Leyton Orient this Saturday.

Bannan explained: “Now we've got the new owner come in, he's done amazing in the short space of time of being here. There's been a lot of change, but you can just see around the city that the positivity is back now. And once you get the fans and the ownership and stuff on board with each other, it's going to be a really, really strong club, and that's why we're all looking forward to the season ahead.”

The Owls are the second favourites to win the League One title but history shows the club has always needed a year in the division to adapt before going up the following season. Despite that, there is nothing from stopping them from aiming for the ‘stars.’

“We're obviously an ambitious club coming down from the Championship,” Bannan said. “A lot of people from the outside will look and tip us as promotion candidates, but there's been a lot of change at the club in the last two, three months now, and with change comes a lot of hiccups along the way. But I think, as a group of players and staff, their aim is for the stars, and that's to get promoted out this league this season. But we know it's not going to be easy. There's going to be a lot of bumps along the way.

“We're going to try our best to get out of the league, however it may be. But I'm not naive to think that it's going to be easy. It's going to be really tough. And like I said, we've changed the squad. I think there was seven or eight new signings that started at the weekend, so they're all still bedding in. We're trying to find out what each other wants on the pitch, so it'll be tough, but definitely we want to get promoted.”

Wednesday have made 13 new signings so far, including Louie Barry from Aston Villa, a club Bannan knows well from his time there. The winger has enjoyed success in League One before with Stockport County and the 23-year-old is being backed to make a positive impact again.

Bannan added: “He's been brilliant. He's fitted in straight away. Obviously, I follow Villa, so I've seen him for a few years now myself. He's been brilliant. He's been a breath of fresh air. He's a winger who wants to go and score goals. He's started pre-season really well, so I'm really excited to to play with him this season. Hopefully he's found a home now because he's obviously been on a lot of loans from last year.”