Sheffield Wednesday: Barry Bannan on target with bold prediction

Favourites for an instant return to the Championship before a ball was kicked, Wednesday endured a slow start to the season, but Saturday’s 2-0 win at Crewe made it 12 games unbeaten for Darren Moore’s team.

Goals from Bannan and top scorer Lee Gregory – either side of Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s penalty save to deny Chris Porter – moved the Owls to seventh in the table, just five points off automatic relegation.

“We are moving along alright, we are moving along unnoticed which is good,” said Bannan.

“We want to be number one, we’ve said it all season and I’m still confident, I’ll put my cards on the table, I think we can get promoted.”

Bannan is Wednesday’s play-maker, pulling the strings from midfield, but he was happy to find the target himself on Saturday, cutting in from the right before drilling a low shot into the corner of the net.

“I’ve been lucky to score a few good ones but that was a big goal.

“It’s the three points that is most important. I’m happy to score, I want to score more goals and I’ve touched on that this season.

“Every time I can chip in with a goal, that’s good but most important is the three points and the performance and I thought we were brilliant.”

Crewe: Richards, Ainley, Offord, Sass-Davies, Michael Williams (Ramsay 78), Adebisi, Lowery, Robertson (Johnson 61), Finney, Porter, Griffiths (Murphy 49). Unused substitutes: Jaaskelainen, Thomas, Gomes, Lundstram.

Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell, Brennan, Palmer, Johnson, Wing, Hunt, Dele-Bashiru (Windass 70), Bannan, Corbeanu (Shodipo 83), Paterson, Gregory (Berahino 83). Unused substitutes: Brown, Kamberi, Wildsmith, Mendez-Laing.

Referee: L Swabey (Devon).