Barry Bannan injury blow could be a long-term blessing in disguise for Sheffield Wednesday..
It has been an excellent season for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship so far, but injuries to key players are threatening to derail their play-off push.
After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Wednesday have made clear progress under manager Danny Rohl this campaign, and they currently sit 11th in the table, just three points from the play-off places.
Championship table (as it stands 12th February)
Team
P
GD
Pts
9
Norwich City
32
6
43
10
Bristol City
31
2
42
11
Sheffield Wednesday
31
-4
42
12
Watford
32
-6
42
13
QPR
32
-6
41
14
Millwall
30
3
40
15
Preston North End
31
-4
40
16
Oxford United
32
-11
38
However, the Owls’ promotion push has stalled slightly in recent weeks after a run of just two wins in their last nine games, and the January transfer window did not go as well as supporters had hoped.
Wednesday did bring in two new additions, with Stuart Armstrong joining from Vancouver Whitecaps and Ibrahim Cissoko making a loan move from Toulouse, while they also kept hold of on-loan Southampton midfielder Shea Charles, but the centre-back and striker that many felt were desperately needed did not arrive.
The Owls wasted much of the early stages of the winter window after a breakdown in communication between Rohl and owner Dejphon Chansiri, and while the pair have now resolved their differences, the damaging impact of their dispute has become clear.
Double injury blow highlights Sheffield Wednesday transfer failings
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl
Wednesday suffered heartbreak as they were beaten 2-1 by play-off rivals West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Saturday, with Jayson Molumby scoring a 96th-minute winner for the Baggies.
However, if losing the game in the last minute was not devastating enough for the Owls, their misery was compounded after star defender Di’Shon Bernard was forced off in the first half with what Rohl described as a “big injury”, and the 24-year-old now looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
With Bernard unavailable, the previously out-of-favour Michael Ihiekwe and youngster Gabriel Otegbayo are Wednesday’s only fit centre-back options, and the former Manchester United man has joined an injury list that already includes another of the club’s key players.
Captain Barry Bannan has once again played a starring role for the Owls this season, scoring four goals and providing four assists in 33 appearances, but rumours circulated before the game at West Brom that the 35-year-old was facing an extended injury lay-off.
As expected, Bannan was absent from the squad at The Hawthorns, and Rohl confirmed the news that supporters had been fearing after the game, but the German admitted he was unsure exactly how long the midfielder would be sidelined for, stating that he could be out for anywhere between seven days and six weeks.
Of course, losing Bannan is a major blow for Wednesday’s play-off prospects, and it is difficult to see them reaching the top six without their talisman, but his injury could be a long-term blessing in disguise for the club.
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Barry Bannan injury will force Sheffield Wednesday to plan for the future
Barry Bannan Sheffield Wednesday
One of the most impressive aspects of Bannan’s near 10-year spell at Wednesday has been his remarkable fitness levels, with the Scot barely spending any time in the treatment room over the past decade.
Prior to Saturday’s match at West Brom, Bannan had missed just 18 league games for the Owls since the start of the 2018-19 season, and he featured 288 times during that period.
Bannan’s constant availability has meant that Wednesday have rarely had to cope without their captain, and as he has frequently insisted that he is keen to remain at Hillsborough for the rest of his career, there has been little urgent need for the club to prepare for life after his departure.
Despite entering the latter stages of his career, Bannan has continued to maintain his high standards of performance, so the Owls have simply been able to kick the can down the road when it comes to putting a succession plan in place for his eventual exit, but they cannot avoid it for much longer.
The sudden loss of Bannan has highlighted just how ill-equipped Wednesday are to manage without him, and while Armstrong, who scored six goals and provided seven assists in 45 games for Southampton in the Championship last season, may be able to fill his boots temporarily, he is unlikely to have quite the same influence on games as his Scotland international team-mate.
It is difficult to argue that Bannan’s injury is anything other than a potentially fatal blow to the Owls’ play-off hopes this season, but it does at least force Rohl to find ways to deal with his absence, and it may help to focus the minds of the recruitment team at Hillsborough ahead of the summer transfer window, with the addition of a new creative midfielder now likely to be high on the agenda.
