Clear update on injury to Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan – and what most difficult part of recovery will be

The Scotland international went off with what is believed to be a hamstring issue in the Owls’ win over Port Vale last week.

Wednesday manager Darren Moore was initially non-committal over the likely severity of the problem but speaking ahead of their FA Cup clash with Newcastle United this weekend reported that scans have been complete and that the club have a timeframe in mind.

Asked whether Bannan would miss ‘a month or six weeks’ or so of football, Moore said: “It’ll be less than that, which is great. But that’s providing he follows the programme and behaves himself. He will this time.

“The biggest thing we have to curb is Baz’s appetite to come back and his want to play. That’s the biggest thing because he just wants to play football.

“That’s understandable but this time it has been explained to him and I think he will recover properly.

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“As much as we all want him back, he has to take his medicine, recover properly and if it takes an extra game or two so be it if that means we have him for the remainder of the season.

“It’s nothing too serious, which is excellent news.”

Though Bannan is undoubtedly the club’s most influential player, onlookers have been impressed with the efforts of the midfield in stepping up in his absence, particularly in the cases of Will Vaulks and George Byers, while Josh Windass bagged his first Owls hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Cambridge from the advanced midfield role.

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On the ‘engine room’ pairing of Vaulks and Byers, Moore said: “They have worked well off each other. For Will to come in and play with the energy and the vigour that he did, he created an understanding with George and they’ve carried that on.

“They’re both experienced boys, they’ve both got strengths to their game and when they combine that together it gives us a strength and fluidity in midfield. Long may it continue.”