Barry Bannan has been criticised by some supporters in recent weeks during Sheffield Wednesday’s poor run of form, but the 30-year-old silenced his critics in the Owls’ 1-0 victory over Charlton Athletic.
Bannan saw a lot of the ball over the 90 minutes, created numerous chances for his teammates, rarely relinquished possession, turned over the ball multiple times and was pulling all the strings in midfield.
Thought Bannan and Murphy were the star performers tonight. IMHO but I thought FF promised lots but end product wasn’t great.
— JD (@JPDOwl) February 26, 2020
Bannan is playing some class through balls and passes tonight 👍👍#swfc
— OWLSTALK.CO.UK ⚽️ (@Owlstalk) February 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/hawky06/status/1232772441031794689?s=20
Bannan is running the show in midfield. His ball over the top picks out Fletcher, whose left foot strike is blocked by Phillips. #SWFC
— Sheffield Wednesday – Yorkshire Live (@LiveSwfc) February 26, 2020
Man of the match tonight?
I will go with Barry Bannan, with Forestieri a close second 👍#swfc #swfclive
— OWLSTALK.CO.UK ⚽️ (@Owlstalk) February 26, 2020
What's most pleasing about tonight was seeing Lee, Lees, Bannan and Forestieri back at it jot to mention return of Fletcher. #swfc
— Gary Abbey (@garyabbey44) February 26, 2020
Forestieri, Bannan, Lees, Palmer, Lee and Fox all brilliant tonight. Fletcher coming on and showing what we’ve missed for weeks as well. What a vitally important win #SWFC
— Joe 📝 (@DeLudoScribo) February 26, 2020
Against Charlton, the 30-year-old had 85 touches, completed 90.9% of his 77 passes, created two chances, had one shot which hit the target, found a teammate with eight of his 11 long balls, made two inceptions, had one successful dribble and made one clearance.
No player on the pitch made as many passes as Bannan and no player who started the game boasted a better pass completion percentage. Only Liam Palmer made more interceptions (3) than the Scotland international too.
Bannan has made 34 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring and creating nine goals. He’s been a regular under Garry Monk and proved his worth on Wednesday, leading to deserved praise from supporters.