Tony Pulis has hinted that Barry Bannan could have a major role to play at Sheffield Wednesday.

The 30-year-old played under Pulis at Crystal Palace but soon found himself surplus to requirements, leading to links that the same could be about to happen at Hillsborough.

Since leaving the Eagles for South Yorkshire in 2015, Bannan has made over 200 appearances for the Owls making him a real fans' favourite among the supporters.

Pulis will be running to the rule over each and every member of Wednesday's squad, with Bannan part of the group being assessed.

But according to the former Middlesbrough and Stoke City boss, the midfielder is certainly highly thought of.

Speaking to the press, as quoted by Yorkshire Live, Pulis said: “Barry most probably over the past three or four years, maybe longer than that, has been one of the outstanding players in the Championship.

"His ability to dictate and control games is first-class. He’s a good kid, I like Barry. I’ve got a lot of time for him.

“At Palace we had [Yannick] Bolasie and [Jason] Puncheon as our wide players, who as I said this morning to the group…it was different managing Palace than what it was managing Stoke.

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“The strengths we had at Palace was the pace wide and the ability wide. We were very apt to get the balls out to them as quickly as possible and Barry wasn’t, at that time, in that category.

“But everything he did at that football club in the time I was there was professional, he’s a good worker in training, and a very very well-liked member of that group.

“I’ve come here today and you look at players in my first training session and they look up to him. There’s certainly a respect that Barry has gained and he hasn’t gained that with anything more than his ability to play with the ball.”

The Verdict

It's going to be an interesting few weeks for Barry Bannan.

The Sheffield Wednesday man is a popular figure at Hillsborough but faces an uncertain future under Tony Pulis.

However the Welshman's comments on the midfielder certainly suggest that he still has a role to play under him, and so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.