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

Fletcher is now in his fourth season with Wednesday, who are currently seventh in the Championship standings after taking five wins and a draw from their opening nine league games of the season, which includes picking up seven points from a possible nine since the permanent appointment of Garry Monk as manager.

Speaking to The Star after securing the latest three of those points in a 4-1 thrashing of Middlesbrough at The Riverside Stadium on Saturday, Bannan spoke in glowing terms about Fletcher, describing him as "the best number nine in this league."

So is Bannan correct? Is Steven Fletcher the best striker in the Championship at the minute?

Here, we put the spotlight on the striker's performances for Sheffield Wednesday so far this season to find out.

Having started all nine of Wednesday's Championship matches so far this season, it is clear that Fletcher is highly thought of by both former interim manager Lee Bullen, and the Owls' new permanent boss in the form of Monk, and the stats do seem to show that their trust in the 32-year-old is well placed.

With Fletcher hitting the net five times already this season, Fletcher is one of the Championship's early pacesetters when it comes to the race for the Golden Boot, with only Brentford's Ollie Watkins (seven) and Swansea's Borja Baston (six) finding the net more times in the early stages of the league campaign, suggesting that the Wednesday striker is well up there when it comes to taking his chances at this level.

When you look at his shooting record, it is perhaps little surprise that is the case.

With 42.9% of Fletcher's shot on target, it does seem as though the striker is capable of keeping opposition goalkeepers busy, particularly when he has taken a total of 21 shots in those nine games, meaning he is doing just what a striker is supposed to do in terms of putting the opposition defence under pressure.

Interestingly, it also seems as though Fletcher is a striker who can make a contribution to his side that extends beyond his shooting.

Having already registered one assist this season, and with a pass success rate of over 70%, it does appear as though the striker is capable of linking up effectively with his Owls teammates, while also creating chances for them on occasions.

While not the main duty of a striker, having an attack-minded player who can have such an influence can only be a useful thing to have, as the more players a side has capable of performing different roles, the more versatile and adaptable it can be to different situations, further highlighting Fletcher's importance to this side.

Another point that Bannan made about Fletcher during his analysis of the striker, was that he considered Fletcher to be the best aerial attacker he has ever played with.

That is interesting when you look at Fletcher's aerial duel success rate so far this season, which at just less than 40%, again highlights the Wednesday striker's threat to opposing defences from scenarios such as set-pieces as well, which only serves to enhance his value to the Owls even more.

While the varying circumstances and scenarios mean that it can be hard to determine who is the best in any one position in any one division, the stats here do seem to suggest that when it comes to the higher echelons of Championship strikers, Bannan is right to put Fletcher in that category when it comes to current form.

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