Alan Biggs: Buoyant Sheffield Wednesday aren’t aching for Barry Bannan – and that’s a very good thing

No-one will be happier that Sheffield Wednesday are coping without Barry Bannan than Barry Bannan.

And it doesn’t change his standing as, for this writer and many others, the most accomplished footballer in League One.

What it does do is show that Wednesday, with all the variations Darren Moore encourages, can find another way of winning when their so-influential skipper is absent.

Many will have doubted as much and there have been few opportunities to prove otherwise with Bannan ever present for the first half of the campaign.

But the Owls have turned the biggest imaginable negative into a resounding positive thanks in general to the manager’s emphasis on adaptability and the form of Will Vaulks in particular.

The former Rotherham and Cardiff midfielder has, to some extent, been in Bannan’s shadow during his first Hillsborough campaign.

Not that they are in any way similar, other than an impressively varied range of accurate passing.

Added to which, Bannan’s partnership with another excellent all-round midfielder in George Byers had emerged as Wednesday’s best balanced and most creative combination by far.

Besides, Bannan is so ubiquitous that he tends to call the shots and link play in many areas of the field.

Vaulks gets about more than we might think but is more of a midfield anchorman - strong, athletic, adept at breaking up play and at finding space to link the start of moves from deep.

He excelled in both the recent home wins over Port Vale and Cambridge United and the wonderful FA Cup conquest of Newcastle.

It is a role he probably could not have performed so effectively with Bannan in the side.

Which is not to say it is better, only that it is different, and it is reassuring that the Owls have an effective counter plan.

Equally important is that it enables a more cautious approach to getting the main man back - from him as well - than was the case last time when he returned remarkably early from a hamstring strain.

Wednesday are now well placed not to take undue risks.

Bannan will be much needed for the run-in, of that there is no doubt.

No-one should be fooled into thinking the current run is the cue for a procession of rampaging victories.

Games will revert to being much tighter and Bannan’s ability to contrive magic moments will be in demand.

However, it’s equally important that there is no sense of panic or even urgency about getting him back on the field.

While defensive cover is short and looks the one priority in the window, Moore has gathered a squad for pretty much all eventualities.