Owls captain Bannan calls for cool heads in derby
Sheffield Wednesday came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Norwich on Tuesday
- Published
Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has urged his side "not to get caught up in the noise" in Sunday's Steel City derby against Sheffield United.
The veteran Scot, 35, has made 400 league appearances for the Owls and is winless in five matches against their city rivals.
Wednesday lost the reverse fixture 1-0 at Bramall Lane in November and have not beaten the Blades since February 2012.
"Both teams are dying to win and put everything on the line," he told BBC Radio Sheffield
"I think the most important thing is to stick to the game plan and not get caught up with the noise from outside and whoever does that best will come away with the points.
"People say it's just another game but's it's not, it means more to the people in Sheffield so we know what's at stake. Obviously the first game was a close one that they nicked in the end.
"We're back at our place now and we'll come out all guns blazing to try and win the game because it would be a massive three points for us to try and get where we're wanting to."
Wednesday come into the match in good form after recording back-to-back away wins at Plymouth last Saturday and Norwich on Tuesday.
The Owls stayed down south between the two matches and Bannan brought the group into a huddle on the pitch after coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
He believes this could be a "pivotal" week as Danny Rohl's men, who are now five points off the top six, look to get back in play-off contention with nine games to go.
"We'd dropped eight points off the play-offs so we knew it was two massive games before the derby on Sunday that we had to concentrate on.
"We stayed down there away from families and it was a lot of travelling but it was worth it now because we came away with maximum points and that sets us up.
"When you get these kind of trips you become closer as a group and I think it was a pivotal moment in the season to come back from 2-0 down at Norwich.
"I told them I was proud of them and how they had conducted themselves and I just wanted to thank them for their efforts."