'Bigger than Wembley' - Sheffield Wednesday star makes massive claim about survival showdown with Derby County
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The maths are simple; the Owls must take three points and hope Rotherham United do not win at Cardiff City or they will be relegated to the third tier for the first time in over a decade.
Made club captain at the start of this season, Bannan has made 257 appearances for the club he joined in 2015 including two ultimately failed play-off campaigns.
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Hide AdAnd the little Scot believes Saturday’s clash is a bigger game for the club than even the 2016 Championship playoff final, which the Owls narrowly lost to Hull City.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest he said: “I have been speaking to some of the boys about this and I spoke to Leesy [Tom Lees] two weeks ago and we said 'if this does go to the last game of the season, it is bigger than Wembley because you've got more to lose.'
“Wembley is a bonus really if you go up as you are getting things you have not had anyway, whereas now you are losing things. You're going into a lesser league and it affects everybody at the club from the staff right down to the stadium.
“If we can get it into next week, it's a much bigger game than Wembley.”
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Hide AdFootball finance experts have placed the potential cost of relegation from the Championship at somewhere in the region of £8m, a loss Wednesday will be desperate to avoid with a famous escape this weekend.