Plymouth Argyle v Sheffield Wednesday: Why Barry Bannan is extra keen to get 'road trip' off to good start

It is no exaggeration to say the club's whole season will be shaped by the next week of football, and with them staying in the south ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Carrow Road, 90 minutes at Home Park will set the mood for what could be a great or miserable five days.

For a long time, manager Danny Rohl's stated aim has been to be in Championship play-off contention when the March international break comes around. The next two away games, then the March 16 Steel City derby – the first at Hillsborough for almost exactly six years – are the last before the division goes on hold for World Cup qualifiers.

The Owls have lost their last three matches, and four of their last five, after a spell where they have lacked the clinical edge at both ends of the field.

Bannan knows extending that sequence against a relegation-threatened Plymouth side who have taken 25 of their 30 points this season in Devon could make for a miserable few days, but winning could be huge.

"It's a big week and momentum's massive in football," he says. "If you can build that momentum by going on to win the next two, the derby speaks for itself.

"If we can get maximum points going into that game and win that as well, it's an amazing 10 days for us.

"If you can take nine points from the next three games, we go into the last eight (games) knowing we're right in the mix for the play-offs and everything's back alive again.

"It's a massive week but it's a week we know in that changing room we're capable of getting the maximum points from if we can give our all and tidy up in both boxes, which has probably let us down in the last few weeks.

"Our performances have been good, we can match most teams in this league, it's just about getting the small details right and we know if we can do that, we're a match for anybody in the league."

The time away from home could be a valuable bonding exercise, particularly for recent additions Ryo Hatsuse, Stuart Armstrong and former Pilgrim Ibrahim Cissoko. But lose the first game, and the days until Carrow Road will drag.

"It can be a positive if you win the game on Saturday or it can be a negative if you lose the game and you don't want to see any of your team-mates after a loss," says Bannan.

"To be around them for three days after a defeat is quite hard but we're concentrating on a positive mindset and winning on Saturday.

"It will be good for the new lads to be around the boys 24/7. Three days is a long time and you can get to know people really well in that space of time. It will be great for them.

"If we can get a positive three results and we've been away with each other for a good period of time that break will come at a good time and we can recharge before we come back."

Bannan is expect to start both matches despite a microfracture in his knee which caused him to miss February's games at West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City.

Having played three games since, the 35-year-old is confident his knee will be up to the test having had to do the sort of work between matches he normally steers well clear of.

"At the start I wouldn't have been able to play midweek games but because I'm three or four weeks down the line, I think I'll be all right," he says. "I've been training normally.

"We've got the long break after it and that will help as well.

"It'll just be a case of knuckling down, getting through the next few games and my reward will come after that.

"When you get the news that you've got a microfracture you panic because you think it will be five, six, seven weeks or so but we spoke to the specialist and realised it wasn't as bad as it first sounded. The specialist just basically said you can get through it, if you can deal with the pain or the pain eases over time, go ahead.

"Touch wood it's not really giving me any bother at all – now and again maybe the odd day but I've been quite lucky. Hopefully I don't have to get the op at the end of the season."

Rohl believes scoring first could be even more important than normal against the Pilgrims.

"Sometimes it's hard for them to come back into a game when they concede a goal but if they go into the lead it's much more difficult because they're very compact and there are not as many spaces,” he warned.

"But I'm convinced if we bring our intensity and our quality on the pitch they have to do a lot of work against us."

Max Lowe, Callum Paterson, Stuart Armstrong and Michael Smith are fit, but Rohl must decide if Anthony Musaba is best travelling to perhaps play a cameo at Norwich, or getting pre-derby training at Middlewood Road under his belt.