Sheffield Wednesday player receives glowing verdict from rival League One manager | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan still has the ability to play in the Premier League, Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth has claimed.

Bannan has been with Sheffield Wednesday since the summer of 2015, when he joined from Crystal Palace, who at the time were indeed a Premier League club.

The midfielder has since become a mercurial figure for the Owls, and that was again the case against Ainsworth’s Wycombe side on Saturday.

As is often the case, Bannan pulled the strings from the centre of the park in a 3-1 win for Wednesday, while also getting on the scoresheet himself, with an uncharacteristically close-range finish.

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Now it seems as though Ainsworth has once again been left highly impressed with what he saw from the 32-year-old on Saturday.

Giving his verdict on Bannan’s performance after the game, the Wycombe boss told the Buckinghamshire Free Press: “Keeping someone like Barry Bannan quiet is a hard job.

“He is probably one of the best-paid players in the league for a reason as he is a Premier League player. Sheffield Wednesday have kept hold of him and he runs the show sometimes.

“Jason McCarthy did his best to put a lid on Barry today and I think he did OK. It wasn’t the Barry Bannan show as we have seen in the past, but it’s just disappointing to leave with nothing.”

That win for Wednesday means they are now third in the League One table, just a point behind the top two, Ipswich and Portsmouth, who do have a game in hand on Darren Moore’s side.

The Verdict

It does feel rather hard to argue with this sort of assessment from Ainsworth.

Bannan is consistently one of the most influential performers in League One, and there aren’t going to be many who don’t feel he can be playing at a higher level than he currently is.

Indeed, on his day, there is certainly a case to be made that he could still be playing in the Premier League, and it does feel as though his past experience in the division is shining through right now.

As a result, keping hold of Bannan for so long is a major coup for Wednesday, and one that could prove decisive in their battle for promotion this season.