Sheffield Wednesday star Barry Bannan drops dig at Rangers after win v Celtic | OneFootball

Barry Bannan has had his say after Rangers defeated Celtic in the Old Firm derby on Sunday

Sheffield Wednesday were held to their second goalless draw at Hillsborough in as many games on Saturday against Stockport County.

For Owls legend Barry Bannan, it was another difficult afternoon where he was clearly targetted by the opposition. The weekend before, Wigan Athletic boss Gary Caldwell admitted to man-marking him all game, and against Stockport, he had even fewer touches of the ball.

That's a tactical issue that Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen will need to work with Bannan to solve over the international break, and with two weekends free of league football, there'll be plenty of time to find a solution.

On Sunday, though, Bannan's thoughts shifted to his beloved Celtic and the second Old Firm Derby in the space of a week against Rangers.

Barry Bannan would have been disappointed at Old Firm derby result

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Bannan is a lifelong Celtic fan and spent time in the Hoops' academy before moving over to England to play for Aston Villa aged 14.

The 36-year-old isn't coy when showing his support for the Scottish giants, but after this past week, you'd forgive him if he was.

Despite a start to the campaign which saw Celtic win each of their opening six games of the league season, performances in Europe and in Old Firm derbies have seen Hoops boss Martin O'Neill come under some pressure.

The collapse against LASK in their UEFA Champions League qualification round second leg put a cloud over that solid start, and three straight defeats in all competitions this past week haven't helped smooth things out, especially given two of those losses have come against bitter rivals Rangers.

Derek McInnes' side thumped Celtic 3-0 in the Scottish League Cup eight days ago, and then came away from Celtic Park with a 1-0 win in the first league meeting between both sides this season on Sunday.

Barry Bannan makes a dig at Rangers after Old Firm win

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Despite falling to their first league defeat of the campaign against Rangers on Sunday, Celtic still find themselves top of the SPL, albeit their rivals are now just two points behind them.

Taking to his Instagram story after the game, Bannan posted a screenshot of the table, with the caption, "Calm down, I've seen this story before 😉☘️🤫"

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Despite the defeat, Celtic head into the three-week international break with the solace that they still sit atop the Scottish top flight. However, those losses will sting, especially against Rangers, too.

Barring any cup meetings, Martin O'Neill's side will have to wait until late January before they can try to make up for these two Old Firm defeats.

Barry Bannan will be hoping for a bounceback after the international break for both Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday

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In a way, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday's respective domestic campaigns have gotten off to similar starts. Both had strong openings, but a couple of disappointing outings have led to some negativity creeping in at the international break.

For Wednesday, they were knocked off the top of the League One table after their second successive goalless stalemate at Hillsborough, with Bradford City's 1-0 win at Luton Town seeing them leapfrog them.

With the Owls one of the third-tier sides with enough players on international duty to postpone games, they could see themselves dropping even further down the table by the time they're next in league action on October 10th against Yorkshire rivals and fellow top-six outfit Huddersfield Town.

A big response will be needed from Henrik Pedersen's side to quell any doubts creeping in after these two 0-0 draws, in which they were arguably lucky to leave with points.

And as for Celtic, Bannan won't want to see his side slip to a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions when they're back in action against Motherwell after the break, too.