Three into two doesn't go - the midfield conundrum facing Garry Monk at Sheffield Wednesday

In Barry Bannan, Sam Hutchinson and Massimo Luongo they have three players that could fairly count themselves among the best in their roles across the division.

But with a reality that the Owls’ best football this season has been played with two up top in a 4-4-2 formation, the conundrum facing Garry Monk long-term is which two he plumps for going forward.

On a relative off-day Bannan, the class-act playmaker, delivered two corners that created the goals in the gut-wrenching 3-2 defeat at Stoke.

Few Wednesdayites would begin to comprehend pushing the little Scot out of favour – he’s the man that makes them tick – and so the question mark hangs over the heads of messrs Hutchinson and Luongo.

The former, a hard-tackling midfield general who’s leadership abilities have been developed over five years at Hillsborough, is the safe option of course.

But at times alongside Bannan the midfield two has looked too deep, too stoic and too slow when compared to the dynamism a midfield including Luongo can offer.

The defeat at Stoke puts a tick in Hutchinson’s box, that’s for sure, with the Australian offering little in the way of bite as the Owls were overrun and out-fought in midfield. When Luongo was replaced by the former Chelsea man Wednesday were thrown back into the game. They missed him.

The Championship is a long season and the fact is that all three will be needed.

But who partners Bannan in Wednesday’s premium midfield two is open to debate.