Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan has claimed that his Owls teammate Steven Fletcher is currently the best striker in the Championship.

Fletcher has enjoyed an impressive start to the current campaign, scoring five times in the Owls' nine league games, which includes his side's fourth goal in their 4-1 thrashing of Middlesbrough at The Riverside Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and Bannan is clearly impressed with his teammate's performances this season.

Speaking about Fletcher following the Owls' win on Teesside, Bannan told The Star: "He is unbelievable. I would say he is the best nine in this league.

"He occupies defences week in, week out.

"I am happy for Fletch. The strikers are scoring goals. Their confidence is a sky-high and long may that continue."

One aspect of Fletcher's game that Bannan is evidently a fan of is his heading, with the midfielder going onto heap praise on his teammate's influence in the air, as he went on to claim: "He is probably the best I have played with in the air and I have played with Christian Benteke and big Emile [Heskey].

"I was with Benteke at Villa and I would say Fletch is better in the air than Christian."

Reflecting on his impressions of Fletcher before the striker's arrival at Hillsborough, Bannan continued: "Before he came here, I used to think of him as more of a link up striker with very good technique. I didn't really look at him as good in the air so he took me by surprise.

"It's just his desire to go and win ball after ball. He is brilliant."

Following their win over Middlesbrough, Wednesday have now climbed to seventh in the Championship table, ahead of their trip to the KCOM Stadium on Tuesday night to take on Hull City.

The Verdict

This feels like a big claim for Bannan to make.

Fletcher is a hugely impressive striker, of that there can be no doubt, although I'm never convinced by one particular player being named the best in the league.

When you look at some of the other strikers currently playing at this level - such as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Lewis Grabban and even Borja Baston on current form, it does seem hard to single one individual out as the best at this level.

Even so, with Wednesday starting to show plenty of promise under Garry Monk, that is likely to be of little concern to them, so long as Fletcher continues to score the goals to keep them challenging for a top-six spot in the Championship this season.

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