Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan hails organisational acumen of manager Garry Monk

Barry Bannan, pictured with Adam Reach on Tuesday night,

Monk has quickly built an impressive foundation at Hillsborough and has sampled just one loss in his opening seven league matches in charge - with Wednesday having rapidly become a team who are hard to break down and beat.

Under the watch of Monk, Wednesday have taken 14 points from a possible 21 - and conceded just four goals.

Bannan, speaking after the hard-fought 1-0 midweek win over Stoke City, who drew marks for substance if not style, said: "He has come in and the performances have been all right at times, but results have been brilliant.

"We are winning games and really enjoying working for the gaffer and the methods and drills he has got us doing are brilliantly and we are all buying into it and you can see that on the pitch.

"It is probably not pleasing on the eye at the minute, but we are getting victories.

"Last season, we would have lost or drawn this game. We know we can perform a lot better.

"But we are drawing and winning games and getting points on the board. We probably have not performed that well to be honest, but we are winning games, so we must be doing something right. We can performing a lot better."

Results on Tuesday night saw Wednesday move just one points behind Yorkshire counterparts Leeds United - and victory in Saturday's game at Hillsborough would see them leapfrog their rivals from up the M1.

Bannan added: "It is always a big game.

"They always pack their away end out and our fans will be right behind us. It is a big game for us and it is one we want to win and it is bragging rights for our fans as well as a massive thre points.

"The table is tight and there are lot of teams a couple of points behind. We have just got to concentrate on ourselves.

"We have got another big game on Saturday against Leeds at home with the home fans around us.

"We do not worry about teams around us, it is too early to watch the league at the minute. We have just got to concentrate on performances and trying to get three points on the board."