Brentford manager Thomas Frank was full of praise for one Sheffield Wednesday player ahead of their Carabao Cup clash on Tuesday.
Sheffield Wednesday get the chance to test themselves against Premier League opposition on Tuesday night, when they travel to Brentford in the Carabao Cup Fourth Round.
The Owls are 24 places behind the Bees in the English football pyramid; Sheffield Wednesday beat Portsmouth 2-1 last time out to leave themselves in 13th place of the Championship table, whilst Brentford are 9th in the Premier League.
Brentford haven’t looked back since their promotion from the Championship in 2021, setting a fine example for teams like Sheffield Wednesday on how to operate both on and off the pitch.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank is even being tipped to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United having done such a fine job during his six years with the West London club.
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Brentford manager Thomas Frank hails ‘remarkable’ Barry Bannan
Speaking to the club on Monday, Frank spoke fondly of Sheffield Wednesday, of Danny Rohl, and of their achievements in the Championship last time round.
Frank also hailed Barry Bannan. Bannan signed a new Sheffield Wednesday contract in the summer and has been in fine form for the last few weeks now.
Frank labelled Bannan as one of his ‘favourite players’ from his time managing in the Championship, saying: “From our Championship days, one of my favourite players then was Bannan. I think he’s a top player and we’ll need to close him down.
“He’s a top player. His left foot is remarkable and he can dictate any game. If we are not closing him down or not aware of him, he can cause us problems.”
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Bannan, despite being 34 years old, is showing no signs of slowing down, and is even looking more impactful than he was for parts of last season.
He’s scored twice and assisted once in 12 Championship outings this season; even when he isn’t scoring or creating goals, though, Bannan has been a huge influence this season.
Speaking earlier in October, Bannan spoke about his Sheffield Wednesday future, amid debate about whether or not he leaves Hillsborough next summer.
Bannan said: “Talk about my future has happened a lot recently! You just get used to it.
“I feel great at the minute. I’ve played every game this season, even the cup games I’ve been involved in those as well.
“If I can keep doing this then hopefully that will put an end to ‘this is his last year’ talk again!”
Brentford against Sheffield Wednesday kicks off at 8pm on Tuesday night, with the game being shown live on Sky Sports.