How Sky Sports pundits reacted to controversial Barry Bannan moment in Leicester's win v Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

The Sheffield Wednesday skipper was sent off for receiving two bookings.

The decision to send Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan off against Leicester City has been labelled "harsh" by one of Sky Sports' pundits.

Two incidents within five minutes of each other resulted in a pair of yellow cards for the Owls' skipper. In a highly emotional game for him, his teammates and the club's supporters, Wednesday had the lead thanks to a first-half goal from Nathaniel Chalobah.

They, unfortunately, were unable to hold onto their lead, conceding both before and after Bannan's sending off to give Leicester all three points.

The first of the Scotsman's offences came from a free-kick that he didn't give away, but one that he didn't believe was a foul by Svante Ingelsson on Abdul Fatawu. His angry reaction towards the main official prompted Matt Donohue to book the 35-year-old.

That came in the 71st minute. Around 300 seconds later, Bannan's game was over, this time for a foul that he did commit.

He and fellow midfielder Harry Winks went in for a 50/50 challenge that Bannan got to first, but his momentum then took his boot into the side of the Leicester player's leg. Donohue deemed it a second bookable offence, and the skipper was sent off.

Sky Sports pundits react to controversial Barry Bannan sending off decision

Ryan Lowe, the boss of Wigan Athletic, who was covering the Championship game as a pundit for Sky Sports, said that he felt both decisions by the referee were "harsh."

"I think everyone knows that this is not really a foul and that he's [Fatawu] thrown himself over the ball," said Lowe about Bannan's first yellow card. "Watch Baz's [reaction]. He's got his hands near [his side], he's 10 yards away, now he gets five yards away. That's a harsh yellow card for me.

"I know with what they have been through over the course of the six weeks of pre-season, there's maybe a little bit of frustration out of Barry there. Can the ref just leave that?

"But we have been told, the players have been told, the managers have been told, in no uncertain terms, they are going to come after you for it because they don't want it. To get the second yellow card, which sees him go off the pitch, was a big miss.

"It's not his fault that they've lost the game. They've lost the game because the quality shone through in the end, really, and they didn't have enough left in the tank to keep going.

"But the two yellow cards, he'll be disappointed with, because when you see the tackle for the next one, again - me and Jobi [McAnuff] had a little bit of debate over it - but he can't move his leg out the way.

"He has gone in for the tackle, the two of them have slid here now. When you slow it down and he just does graze the top of Winks' leg, but he can't move his leg, and Winks probably makes a bit of a meal of it. He does catch him, [but] I think it's quite harsh."

Fellow pundit McAnuff took a slightly different view to the Wigan boss. He believes that Bannan should have been more aware and careful when heading in for the challenge on Winks that got him sent off because of his previous booking.

He said: "When you look at them both together, to get two yellows for those two incidents. I get his frustration at the first yellow card, but, again, it's the initiative. We see it every time at the start of the season, referees are going to be hot on it.

"He's the captain, the managers have been told about it. So I think, from that perspective, is it, for me, real dissent? Probably not. But at this stage of the season you've got to be careful. And then once he's got the first yellow, again, to go into a challenge.

"I don't think there's massive contact. There's certainly not any real pace or force, but it's probably just enough for another yellow card. He'll be really disappointed with that, Barry."

"He definitely will be disappointed," Lowe responded. "But are we going to take slide tackles out of the game now? I just found it harsh."

Barry Bannan's sending off wasn't the reason for Sheffield Wednesday's loss to Leicester City

Bannan blamed himself for the loss on Instagram on Sunday evening, but it would be really harsh to pin all the responsibility on him. Yes, that is one of the burdens of captaincy, but him and his teammates were so overmatched against a side that has just come down from the Premier League, having won the Championship two seasons ago.

He is now set to miss Wednesday's first cup game of the season against Bolton Wanderers, on Wednesday. With an already limited squad, that will be a really tough test for Henrik Pedersen's side now that they will be without their leader on the pitch.