Sheffield Wednesday suffered a massive blow on Saturday afternoon with Barry Bannan’s sending off, and Will Vaulks could be someone to come in should it happen again.
Bannan received a straight red card midway through the second half for the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity, after appearing to trip Jason Knight on the edge of the box.
His straight red card did mean he would have been suspended for the next three games subject to appeal, beginning with the home match against Millwall this Saturday afternoon.
But Wednesday have had their appeal successful, so Bannan is back in contention
If Bannan was to miss out on a game in the future for whatever reason, it would mean that there would be an opportunity for one of Wednesday’s other central midfielders to step up in Bannan’s absence.
The man that manager Danny Rohl could turn to in the event that does happen could be Will Vaulks.
Rohl could turn to Vaulks
The 30-year-old has only been more of a rotation player so far this season, appearing sparingly over the first three months of the season.
The £16k-a-week ace has so far made eight appearances for the Owls, with only three of those being starts.
Primarily a more defensive midfielder, he offers something different to Bannan, who is more of an attacking midfielder than he is a defensive one.
The former Wales international came on at half time after Bannan’s dismissal and showed that he possesses quality going forward, creating three chances.
Despite only winning 38% of his duels on Saturday, Vaulks is more than capable defensively and was described as ‘tidy’.
His defensive output could also help Wednesday’s defence, who have only kept three clean sheets so far this season.
With Vaulks sitting back, it gives George Byers, who is more than likely going to be the other player in Rohl’s two-man midfield, licence to go forward and provide another option supporting that attackers centrally.