Barry Bannan's status for Sheffield United clash explained after Sheffield Wednesday injury scare
Sheffield Wednesday fans delighted with a stunning comeback win at Norwich City may have been left with a slight concern after talismanic captain Barry Bannan was brought off late on in the match.
The Scottish midfielder was replaced by Liam Palmer in the 82nd minute having come out of a collision with an opponent and appeared to be walking a little gingerly on his way from the field. Bannan has played every game since suffering an injury that kept him out for two matches at the start of last month and has spoken a little about the management of the knock.
With Sheffield United coming to Hillsborough on Sunday as Wednesday’s next opponents, there will have been concerns that Bannan might be touch and go for the return leg of the first set of Steel City battles since 2019. The feeling would be that wild horses might well struggle to keep the Owls skipper from taking the field in a match he has admitted has become something of a bugbear given his absence of a victory in a derby to date.
Goals from Michael Ihiekwe, Josh Windass and Djeidi Gassama turned around a 2-0 half-time deficit in what has long since become a trademark Owls comeback rally. Speaking to The Star in the time after the final whistle of a memorable win at Carrow Road, Röhl made clear that Bannan’s exit was down to fatigue more than anything.
“This is a huge step forward, that Baz now gives me a signal,” Röhl said. “Last season maybe he would continue and try, but now he realises how important it is that we have energy and we have players that are waiting for minutes and moments. It is good to see.”
Asked whether there was any concern at all over Bannan heading into the clash on Sunday, Röhl said: “No, it should be OK.”
“With Dom we had to manage him, it was not easy to take him out because he performed well (at Plymouth). Ryo we had to change, Marvin came step by step into the game and did OK. The group did well and this is good to see.”