Sheffield Wednesday: That hammering of Norwich City was for you, Barry Bannan tells fans
Wednesday had yet to really get Hillsborough fired-up this season, certainly in comparison to last year, and the players and coaching staff had become aware of the change in mood at S6.
However, a cure for the ‘virus of negativity’ as Carlos Carvalhal describes it, was discovered with a memorable performance which the head coach also felt was ‘the best of the season’ so far.
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Hide AdAnd Bannan said everyone was conscious of the fact that it was up to the players to attempt to reignite the, until-then, muffled Hillsborough roar.
“We had a talk in the week about why at home we’ve not really had the crowd behind us as much as at away games,” admitted Bannan, who turned in a hugely impressive display in the middle of the park on Saturday.
“I don’t know what it is, maybe the gaffer’s spotted it and said we need to press and get the crowd on our side from the off and that just shows that if you get the crowd behind you then this can be a tough place to come.”
Ross Wallace, who scored a brilliant long-range opener against the Canaries, backed up team-mate Bannan in stating how much it meant to once again put on an entertaining show for the Wednesday supporters.
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Hide Ad“We have been disappointed with the last two games, and we wanted to put on a performance to try and show the fans we have that hunger,” he said.
“We managed to do that and the fans were outstanding, they came with us - even when we were making mistakes - and were right behind us.”
Wednesday’s next challenge comes in the form of Burton Albion, who beat the Owls 3-1 earlier in the season.
While Nigel Clough’s side are battling at the other end of the table, Bannan is expecting another big task under the Hillsborough lights on Tuesday night.
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Hide Ad“It’s going to be another tough game,” he said. “I don’t know exactly where they are in the table now but it’ll be tough.
“They beat us at their place convincingly when we went there early on in the season but we’ve improved from then and confidence is sky high again after that result (against Norwich) and we look forward to the game on Tuesday.”