Owls survival 'would not top 2023 promotion' - Bannan

Barry Bannan's appearance for Sheffield Wednesday in Sunday's Championship win over Blackburn Rovers was his 364th league appearance for the Owls

Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan says if the club stay in the Championship this season, it still will not top the manner in which they won promotion from League One last term.

The Owls lost the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Peterborough United 4-0 but fought back to 5-5 on aggregate in the return leg and won on penalties before beating Barnsley at Wembley to return to the second tier.

Having taken until 29 October to record their first win this season, boss Danny Rohl has steered them out of the bottom three with two games remaining.

"I don't think you can top last season because it was just crazy what happened," Bannan told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I don't think I'll ever re-live that in my lifetime. But [survival] would be a massive achievement from where we started to staying in this league."

Rohl came in as replacement for Xisco Munoz in October, after the Spaniard was sacked having overseen the club's worst ever start to a season.

He has overseen 14 wins from 36 games however, with Sunday's win over fellow relegation candidates Blackburn Rovers moving them out of the drop zone with a one-point advantage on third-from-bottom Birmingham City.

"Everyone wrote us off, rightly so, and we were getting written off again last week," Bannan added.

"But it's not about answering the critics, it's about doing it for yourselves, your club, your chairman and your fans, and that's what we're doing."

'I hope to play more games if I'm lucky enough'

Bannan registered his 400th appearance for the club in their win at Ewood Park having joined from Crystal Palace in 2015.

The midfielder has scored 31 goals for the Owls during that time and has stepped up to captain the side.

Despite his pride at playing for the club and the legacy he has created, the 34-year-old previously admitted that he was unsure over his future at Hillsborough with his contract due to end this summer.

"It's been a really good nine years. Obviously, I've had downs but the ups, especially if we stay up this season, have outweighed those for me," he said.

"It is a massive honour for me. Not only was it 400 appearances but it's 400 appearances for a massive club steeped with history.

"It's something I'll look back on more so when I'm finished. At the minute I hope to play a lot more games for this club if I'm lucky enough."