BANNAN PUTS BOOT INTO BLUES AGAIN

BARRY BANNAN was the thorn in the side of Birmingham yet again.

The Aston Villaloving Sheffield Wednesday midfielder (below) put away a 49th-minute penalty for only his third goal in a year.

One of the other two was against Birmingham as well, at St Andrew’s in last season’s 3-3 draw. That was a belter.

This time Blues keeper Neil Etheridge dived the right way and got close to keeping out Bannan’s penalty.

But the power of his shot did for Etheridge and Blues were condemned to their first league defeat of the season.

Up until the last 15 minutes when Birmingham might have nicked an unlikely draw, Wednesday – who are making inroads into their 12-point deduction – dominated.

Owls boss Garry Monk said: “This is a relegation battle for us, make no bones about it.

“We have a chance this week to clear the 12 points. Whether we will I don’t know, but that is the plan.

“There is no club with a bigger challenge than we have.”

Blues boss Aitor Karanka said: “We did not show any intensity until near the end.”