Danny Röhl questions Sheffield Wednesday change players in concerning Barry Bannan injury update..
Danny Röhl has made an ominous admission over the condition of skipper Barry Bannan – and hinted at a disappointment in how others have failed to step up in his absence.
Speaking after his side lost grip of their home clash with Oxford United to fall to a fifth consecutive defeat at Hillsborough, Röhl admitted an anger at how things had played out and expressed concern over the broad attitude of some players with a midtable positioning near-certain.
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They’ve played out their last two matches without their talismanic skipper Bannan, who has an ankle knock. The Scot attempted to warm-up through the injury at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday but was left out of the squad altogether as relegation-threatened Oxford won the day with a late header from Sam Long.
In a post-match press conference in which he hinted at a disappointment with the outlook of certain players more than once, the German coach told The Star on Bannan’s condition: “He got an injection yesterday.
“It does not look good. He pushed his football in the last 17 months on a very, very high level. He played nearly every game and there maybe comes a point now where the body is asking for some rest. He is not the youngest one, he played so many games and this is normally a time where other players can step into this position.
“This is what I find tough. We have players who want to demand and speak with me and all these things, I try to give everybody opportunities now and chances to show. Today is hard.”
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Wednesday had the better of the first half and the start of the second before Oxford came through with what both Röhl and Us boss Gary Rowett described as a greater will to win. The substitutions of high performers Yan Valery and Anthony Musaba in particular seemed to contribute, with the rotating Owls boss keen to offer opportunities to the likes of youngster Charlie McNeill.
“Stuey after a long time played as a starter, he could do 55 or 60 minutes,” Röhl explained. “Svante tried, Charlie we wanted to give him minutes in the 10 position at this level. On the right side it was clear Yan could not play through, we gave Pol an opportunity to show. But all in all, maybe it opens our eyes now about players for the future. To make good decisions we should use this, then maybe we can make good decisions for the future.”
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