Barry Bannan has leapt to the defence of his Sheffield Wednesday teammate Adam Reach, following recent criticism of the midfielder's performances this season.

Reach, who scored eight goals for Wednesday last season - including a number of spectacular long-range efforts - has found the net just once so far this season, further increasing the scrutiny around the 26-year-old recently.

It seems however, as though Bannan feels that some of that criticism is unjustified, and speaking to the Sheffield Star about Reach's apparent recent struggles, the 29-year-old said: “I think he gets a lot of bad criticism. A lot of people forget you are not going to be 100 per cent every game, and scoring.

“Adam scored a lot of unbelievable goals last year, which most players wouldn’t be able to do.

"He’s not going to be like that every game, or he wouldn’t be here [at Sheffield Wednesday], he would be somewhere else.”

Indeed, it appears as though Bannan believes that those assessing Reach's recent form need to take his all-round performances into account, as the Scotsman claimed: “A lot of people forget about his work rate and what he does off the ball.

“He is a wise head, has a lot of experience. He gets bad press, but that’s probably because he was scoring all these ‘worldie’ goals last season.

"There’s not many players capable of scoring all those goals he scored last year. We appreciate him as a team-mate, and in the changing room."

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Reach was dropped from the Wednesday starting XI for just the second time in the league this season in the draw with Swansea in the final game before the international break, but came off the bench to help set-up Fernando Forestieri for the Owls' opener in that game.

That is something that Bannan believes will help Reach going forward, as the Scotsman concluded: “The gaffer wanted a change [for Swansea], but when Adam came on he had an assist in the first goal, and made an impact on the game.

"That will be good for his confidence.”

The Verdict

I do think Bannan has a point here.

Last season did see Reach score some spectacular goals, but it is going to be hard for the vast majority of players to keep producing those sorts of moments week in week out across the course of their careers.

That is something that may well have been impacted by the managerial changes that Wednesday have gone through since the start of last season, with the change in style potentially having an effect on how Reach as an individual is approaching games.

Indeed, when you look at where Wednesday are now in comparison to this time last year, you imagine that most around the club are happier with where they are now, than that position they were in at a time when Reach was banging in the goals on a more regular basis.