Barry Bannan’s Christmas wish for Sheffield Wednesday

This Boxing Day more than 2,000 Sheffield Wednesday fans are set to head to Middlesbrough for an away fixture after selling out the venue.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Steel City derby win on Boxing Day.

Bannan said: “My Christmas wish is that hopefully we can win on Boxing Day and start climbing up the table. We are in a nice position at the minute. I hope we win on Boxing Day because it makes leaving your family after Christmas a lot better.

“My favourite thing about Sheffield is how passionate people are about the football. It’s a working-class city and that’s the way I was brought up as a kid back in Scotland so I can connect with that. It also has really nice coffee places!

Keep up to date on everything in Sheffield and South Yorkshire with The Star’s free newsletterdelivered straight to your inbox

“Owls fans are special because of how passionate they are about the club. That’s what’s really touched me since I’ve come here. It’s all about winning no matter what league you’re in and no matter what team you’re playing against, these fans expect to win games.

“I grew up hating losing and I’ve come to this club and I’ve really enjoyed how passionate the fans have been.”