Big week ahead for Sheffield Wednesday and Garry Monk

Barry Bannan’s 49th-minute penalty gave the Owls a 1-0 victory over Birmingham to hand Monk a winning return to St Andrew’s.

Bannan scored the only goal to earn Wednesday their first Championship win since the opening day of the season and end Birmingham’s unbeaten league start under new head coach Aitor Karanka.

It also gave Monk his first victory at St Andrew’s since his 16-month stint as Birmingham head coach ended in June, 2019.

A win for Monk’s men brought Wednesday to minus four points – the Owls were hit by an EFL punishment for breaking spending rules – as they prepare for two home games in the next seven days, against Brentford and Luton on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively.

“Going into this week there is the possibility we could wipe out the 12-point deficit,” said Monk.

“This could be a big week – we could close that gap and put pressure on teams above.

“We have had to fight for our lives from the very beginning and we know that.

“If we keep building and gelling and give these guys time, hopefully we will get stronger, while keeping the urgency to get points on the board in every game.”

Monk added: “There’s no false position in our thinking – we started with minus 12 points and we have the biggest challenge in the league this season.

“We’re trying to fight to get up that league but we know it’s going to be difficult.”

The goal came early in the second half after Bannan, who scored a cracker in the same fixture last season, had Neil Etheridge stretching to palm away a 25-yard curling attempt.

From the resulting corner, the Blues struggled to clear their lines and Adam Clayton conceded a needless penalty as he clearly bundled over Callum Paterson when he was trying to clear a loose ball.

Bannan despatched the spot kick low to the left of Etheridge, who guessed right but could not save it, ending a run of 365 minutes without a Wednesday player scoring in the Championship. Monk insisted: “I thought we deserved it – we dominated the game, defensively we dominated, we didn’t allow them to get into stride and they weren’t a threat while we created a number of situations.”

Former Boro chief Karanka said: “We had different players and we tried to be more offensive, but the lack of intensity made it difficult.”

Birmingham City: Etheridge, Colin, Dean, Friend, Pedersen; Gardner (Roberts 82), Clayton, Ivan Sanchez, Crowley (McGree 59); ela (Leko 68), Hogan. Unused substitutes: Andres, San Jose, Dacres-Cogley, Sunjic.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson, Odubajo, Flint, van Aken, Harris, Reach, Bannan; Luongo, Kachunga (Dele-Bashiru 84), Windass (Marriott 77); Paterson (Pelupessy 90). Unused substitutes: Borner, Penney, Rhodes, Wildsmith.

Referee: P Bankes (Merseyside).

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James Mitchinson