‘The best player’ - Sheffield Wednesday’s key men highlighted by former West Ham United midfielder

McAnuff was full of praise for the Owls after they went away to MK Dons and picked up a solid 1-0 win over the weekend, saying that the victory will be ‘incredibly pleasing’ for Darren Moore and his side.

A Josh Windass penalty was enough to give Wednesday all three points and their first win of the season at Stadium MK, but they had to dig deep as they under pressure from the Dons as the game drew to a close.

Speaking on ITV's Football League Highlights show, McAnuff said, "A clean sheet and in particular dealing with crosses a little bit better than they did last week… Every time the ball came into the box they looked to be in trouble, so certainly to go away to a difficult place like MK Dons and get that 1-0 win will be incredibly pleasing.

"I feel certainly for Darren Moore that at the back end of last season that their form at Hillsborough was absolutely incredible. I think they have gone out and strengthened in key areas.

"Will Vaulks coming into that midfield will be absolutely huge and adding a goalscorer to their ranks in Michael Smith is going to be a big factor in them doing well.

"We then have to talk about Barry Bannan. For me, he is one of the best players in the league, if not the best player. I am also championing him as a bit of an older statesmen at 32 now and still pulling the strings. I think if they can give him that licence to go and make things happen then again he is going to have another standout season.

"I certainly feel they are heading in the right direction, having gone close last year, to go that one extra step further this year and get automatic promotion."

Next up is a visit from Sunderland to Hillsborough as the Owls’ Carabao Cup campaign gets underway on Wednesday night, and they'll be hoping to maintain their strong home form by picking up another win.

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