Barry Bannan's two-year Sheffield Wednesday contract a welcome boost to Owls

Given that Bannan has been talking for some time about his eagerness to sign a new deal, it is no great surprise but at the end of a week which saw promising youngster Liam Shaw reach a pre-contract agreement with Celtic, it is a huge boost.

Like Shaw, Bannan's contract was up at the end of the season but he had made it clear he was committed to staying at the club regardless of whether it won this season's fight against relegation. The Owls are in the Championship's bottom three, but a home win over Birmingham City – the team below them on goal difference – on Saturday could lift them out depending on other results. They have a 100 per cent home record under caretaker manager Neil Thompson.

Bannan joined the club in August 2015 and has formed a close attachment since. In his time in South Yorkshire the 31-year-old has shown himself to be arguably the best deep-lying playmaker in second-tier football.

The former Aston Villa and Crystal Palace midfielder has made 241 appearances for the club, and the only two games he has not started this season were two League Cup ties he was rested for in September as then-manager Garry Monk rotated his squad.

Monk appointed Bannan as captain in the summer, a decision successors Tony Pulis and Thompson have been happy to stand by.

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