Josh Windass has been unable to go for a haircut or a coffee for weeks without being on the end of some banter ahead of the Steel City derby, but it is a stroll in the park after the hostility of playing for Rangers.

Having played – and scored – in the notorious Old Firm derby, the Sheffield Wednesday forward says the rivalry with Sheffield United is far more friendly.

With the Steel City neighbours meeting for the first time in five years at Bramall Lane on Sunday, chat about the game has been unavoidable for Windass recently but having made his first Rangers start in a 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park, nothing about the game holds any fears for the forward – except maybe getting a haircut.

"My barber actually is a Blade so I’m hoping he’s not going to butcher me before the weekend," said Windass on Friday morning.

"I said to him on Thursday make sure you don’t ruin my haircut for the weekend but he said he couldn’t promise me anything!"

In a two-club city, such encounters are commonplace.

"I would compare it to Glasgow in that it means everything to everyone," continued Windass, who will have been an Owl for five years in January. "It’s like a goldfish-bowl kind of area: you’re either a Sheffield United fan or Sheffield Wednesday. That’s all people care about.

"I have close friends who are Wednesday fans telling me they won’t go to the game because it’s at their stadium. You know how much it means for everybody when you live in a city and you're invested in all the people around you.

ATMOSPHERE: Josh Windass is looking forward to hearing his first Steel City derby nearly five years after joining Sheffield Wednesday

placeholder image — ATMOSPHERE: Josh Windass is looking forward to hearing his first Steel City derby nearly five years after joining Sheffield Wednesday

“It’s more about not letting people down. It means a lot to me because I’ve been here such a long time.

"I’m looking forward to sampling the atmosphere. If it’s anything like an Old Firm atmosphere I cannot wait.”

But he has already noticed an important difference.

"The coffee shop I go in, the owner is a Sheffield United fan so he said I'm not allowed in if I score on Sunday!” he reveals.

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"(But) the banter around the city is always friendly, I think that's the difference with Glasgow – it's not really friendly up there! You bump into the other side and it's not a nice encounter.

"There would just be no exchange at all (in Glasgow), no eye contact, no words spoken, nothing. You wouldn't say a word, you wouldn't even dare in case anybody saw you doing it.

"Here I don't sit and have a coffee with anybody but I'll say hello.

"Last season I'd see Jon Egan and Flecky (John Fleck) in (the coffee shop) quite a lot. I was mates with Wes (Fotheringham, his old Rangers team-mate who was then at Bramall Lane) so it was easier to say hello, I guess. We weren't exactly friends but we were more polite.

FIRM FAVOURITE: Josh Windass scores for Rangers against Celtic in 2018

"I played with Kieffer Moore (at Wigan Athletic) but apart from that I don't know any (Blades player now). But my old man is really good friends with Chris Wilder so I’m going to leave Chris alone because my old man will hammer me.

"I think he’s done an incredible job at Sheffield United over the years, none more than this year with the change of squad they’ve had."

His first taste of Celtic v Rangers made even the confident Windass nervous.

"It was my first league start (for Rangers), 5-1 at Celtic Park (in September 2016)," recalls Windass, who scored his only Old Firm goal in a 3-2 home defeat in March 2018. "It was a nice welcome to top-flight football, I guess, playing against one of the best teams at the time.

"That game I was really nervous.

"I'd been playing in front of 1,500 people for Accrington every week and then I'm in this big stadium thinking., 'Oh my God, what's happening here?'

"When (Rangers manager) Mark Warburton told me in the morning I was starting I didn't really believe him, to be honest. But once I got into the game I was fine.”

Although Wednesday's senior players have spoken to their team-mates about dealing with the occasion, Windass – whose diving header in the last minute of extra time in the 2023 League One play-off final against Barnsley at Wembley was just one example of his ability to rise to big games – thinks there is a limit to how much they can help.

"I think it's sink or swim," he says. "You either thrive in atmospheres like this or you don't. I think they key is being calm on the ball, being patient, don't let the crowd noises make you rush your passes or play one touch when you can have two.

"You've just got to try and play your natural game. It's always harder when it's hostile and loud and you can't really hear your team-mates but you've got to make really good decisions under pressure and do what's best for the team.

"That's what we'll all be trying to do.

"In terms of actually playing the game, I just enjoy it. We've got the best job in the world so when you play in occasions like this you've got to enjoy it because they don't come around too often.

"Hopefully the lads can feed off my self-belief and the way I conduct myself and have that same belief so we can go and win the game.

"If I can score a winner in a Sheffield derby that would be amazing. The aim is not to score the winner, just to win.”