Sheffield Wednesday talisman Barry Bannan offers fitness update and spells out importance of Charlton Athletic visit

His side are in tenth place in a competitive division, four points shy of the coveted play-off places.

A run of five matches and over a month since their last win has seen them lose early ground on their rivals, but their Valley visit comes at what could prove to be an opportune time for Garry Monk’s men, with the hosts out of form and out of luck with 12 players unavailable.

And Bannan thinks a win in London would change things for his struggling side, who despite a string of promising performances are dropping points through a failure to hit the back of the net.

“It's going to be another tough game, they had a good start to the season so it'll be another tough place to go,” he said.

“Anywhere in the league is tough now, it's hard, but really we need to go and win the game.

“We need to get four points from nine, which isn't good enough, but it's a better feeling if we can go there and get the three points.

“It's going to be a tough game but if we can go there and win the game it'll change things. We'll see how it goes.”

The little Scot has been struggling with a hip injury that forced him out of the defeat at Blackburn from time to time this season.

And while he admitted the issue is ongoing, he says it is one he can manage going forward.

He said: “The hip is fine, it's been fine for the last two or three games now, it's about managing it I think, sometimes I'll feel it, sometimes I wont.

“It's not going to stop me, it's just something that I can manage. I feel good and I'm enjoying myself. Obviously we want to be winning games but that will come.”