‘Funny old game’ – Sheffield Wednesday skipper reiterates Owls belief against the odds

The Owls go into tonight’s game needing to fight back from 4-0 down following an awful result in Peterborough last week, and while it may be Mission Improbable it would appear that within the camp there is still hope.

Bannan, who was nominated for the League One Player of the Season, knows that they need to give the Hillsborough faithful something to believe in early doors, saying that they need a fast start at S6 in search of what would be the great play-off turnaround of all time.

“First and foremost, we have to go and win the game,” he said in his programme notes. “And then, we have to try and win it handsomely.

“From the outside, everybody has obviously written us off but in-house, we believe and we have to go and give everything, we have got to leave it on the pitch.

“Don’t get me wrong, a lot of things are going to have to go our way but I think a lot of things went Peterborough’s way on Friday. Football is a funny old game and things can change and change quickly. We are capable of turning this around. We are all of the same belief, on the same page and believe we can go and do it. Anything is possible.

“We’ve had fast starts this season loads of times at Hillsborough and the fans will play a big part. We need them right behind us but we’re not naive, we know we need to give them something to cheer about as well. They will need something to grasp on to, so with a fast start and the crowd right behind us I’m more than confident we can turn this around.”

Bannan has eight goals and assists in his last 10 games for Wednesday, and as he prepares to make his 356^th appearance in Owls colours he’ll be hoping to add to his tally of 19 for the season in what will be their biggest challenge so far.

Darren Moore and his side have scored 3+ goals on 12 occasions over the course of this season, scoring 4+ at home four times, though it will take a huge performance to do so tonight – especially without conceding.