The secret behind Sheffield Wednesday’s perfect penalty shootout

Wednesday overcame all the odds on Thursday night, coming from 4-0 down to draw 5-5 on aggregate, going on to win the shootout as Jack Hunt scored the decisive spotkick.

The Owls skipper says that there was no luck involved with the Owls’ 100% record from 12 yards out, revealing that the team were so confident in coming back from four goals down that they’d spent days preparing for penalties in case they were required.

He scored from the spot, as did Michael Smith, Will Vaulks, Josh Windass and Hunt, and they had a little help from the youngsters at Middlewood Road as they tried to get their minds right for what could be around the corner at a packed out Hillsborough.

“We’d practised them all week,” Bannan said afterwards. “That’s how confident we were that we were going to get to penalties at least. We practised penalties every single day for the last four days, the youth team have been in behind the goal shouting abuse when we’re running up to take them.

“We had a bit of the Arsenal thing where we had the speakers out as well. We practised two every day, and then yesterday we had two teams playing against each other in a shootout like we had tonight. So it’s no coincidence that we all scored – we practised it all week.

“It’s not arrogance, just belief. We felt that there was no point going out there if none of us believed.”

Not everybody was convinced at first, but with the Owls now on their way to Wembley because of it they may well have changed their tune…

“A lot of people in training were saying that it wasn’t going to help, because there’s no pressure,” Bannan went on to say. “But I felt pressure, it was created by the way they did it. It was real.

“When you’ve got kids from the youth team shouting things behind the goal, speakers going, you do feel pressure because you don’t want to miss when everyone is watching. It’s alright if you’re practising normally, but it’s different when everyone’s there.

“After the game Josh was speaking to Tom Bates, the psychologist, and he said, ‘I’m not going to lie, I thought those penalties we did were a load of rubbish – but we scored all five’. Tom was saying that if you prepare then it can all come together, and he’s spot on.”

Now, as they shift focus to Barnsley on May 29th, they’ll be going through it all again in an attempt to prepare for every eventuality in the capital, but belief within that Wednesday camp will be through the roof after their heroics earlier this week.

It’s been almost a decade since the last shootout in a League One play-off final, and while the Owls will be desperate to get the job done in 90 minutes they at least know they’ve got what it takes to go all the way if required.

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