Barry Bannan’s message to Sheffield Wednesday supporters

Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has posted on Instagram to celebrate Thursday evening’s exceptional comeback against Peterborough United and look ahead to the play-off final.

The Owls were up against it following their 4-0 defeat in the first leg – but managed to get themselves on the scoresheet twice in the first half – giving them the opportunity to push for extra time in the second half.

Despite Reece James’ third, it looked as though Wednesday were going to fall just short.

But Liam Palmer’s finish deep into stoppage time levelled the score on aggregate and the game eventually finished up at 5-5 after extra time, courtesy of Lee Gregory’s own goal and Callum Paterson’s finish.

Darren Moore’s side needed to hold their nerve in the penalty shootout to go through – and that’s exactly what they were able to do with Jack Hunt scoring the winning penalty.

Barry Bannan’s message

Following a poor performance in the first leg by his standards, Bannan will have been delighted to have led the Owls to such an emphatic victory at Hillsborough.

He will be as keen as anyone to get back to the Championship following two seasons in League One – and is already looking ahead to the final despite recently recording such a remarkable win.

The midfielder posted: “Don’t let anyone tell you ever you can’t. A night that won’t be forgotten, now time to prepare for Wembley, see you all next week.

“Your support on the night, wow, lost for words. Same again next week.”

What now?

Thursday night will be remembered for many years – but they need to focus on the play-off final now because they will need to be at their best to secure the victory at Wembley.

They will be the favourites to go on and win but as the first leg of the semis showed, they could be torn apart if they aren’t fully focused.

It would be easy for them to get carried away now – but the job isn’t done yet and they need to utilise the momentum they have to go on and win the final against Barnsley quite comfortably.

The one thing they do know is the fact they have the character to get back into the game if they fall behind. However, they will want to take control of the game from the first whistle.

They are capable of dominating but it remains to be seen whether they will be in the right frame of mind to be able to perform to the highest of their potential.