Barry Bannan’s lighter preseason influence on Sheffield Wednesday explained as Xisco looks ahead

The Scotland international has and will continue to be the main man at the heart of Wednesday’s successes.

But in five preseason outings it has been noted that he has not been stationed in the heart of things for periods, with the likes of Will Vaulks, Tyreeq Bakinson and other midfield colleagues stepping in to take plenty of the ball, often in situations more routinely dominated by the 33-year-old.

Xisco has impressed the need for patience in the early weeks and months of his management at S6 as he loads work into his squad, seeking to instill a new style of play and improved confidence on the ball.

After Tuesday evening’s defeat at Doncaster Rovers, he explained that he has no qualms over Bannan’s continued ability in those scenarios and that preseason is the time to allow others to shine and take on responsibility of building attacks.

Any notion of overreliance on the quality of the Wednesday captain is one he clearly wants to avoid as he puts added work into the midfield colleagues around him. Now, he suggested, was not the time to work on the tried and tested.

“You have to think if Barry is coming back and taking the ball it’s a safe situation,” Xisco said. “But I want the situation where we’re playing better and he’s not just coming to take the ball [from the defence]. And I don’t just want to improve him at the expense of another three or four players.

“This solution is clear because it was last year. I try to give another solution because if Barry is injured then what can I do? I’m not thinking about only today, I’m thinking about two weeks, three weeks’ time.

“I have to think how I can improve the centre-backs, what I want from the full-backs, what I want from Bakinson and so on. It’s simple, you come, take the ball and play forward.”

Added responsilbility for certain squad members now will pay dividends later in the campaign, Xisco reiterated. The Owls boss has made clear that results in a preseason he arrived late to are not of grave concern to him, though he admitted there is a great deal of work to be done after watching his side go three run-outs without scoring.

Is their preseason set-up an indication that Bannan’s influence will be reduced this season?

“No,” Xisco continued, explaining he is keen to get a clear idea of what the other players in the squad are capable of.

“I want to push the players’ physical conditions and find out about them in difficult situations. I also want to build the team. We can play simple but I don’t want that. I want the centre-backs thinking about what is happening, the full-backs thinking about what’s happening. I know exactly right now who has the capacity and who doesn’t.

“If always you give the responsibility to him, it’s okay but maybe he is only one of the solutions. But then if he is injured, maybe we need something else.

“The players need to understand about different situations and other people have to take responsibility in these situations.”