Sleeping giants Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland jostling for play-off redemption in League One

Between them they have won 10 First Division titles and five FA Cups.

They also have the biggest grounds outside the Premier League and in terms of capacity rankings, they are both in the top 12 in the country.

But for Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland, none of that matters right now. For at least one of them - or potentially both - will be spending another season in the third tier of English football. That is the bold reality for the fallen giants as they each attempt to plot a course to the Championship via the play-offs route.

It is the only option left to both clubs having left it too late to mount a push for the top two automatic slots.

For Wednesday, they are in their first campaign back at this level in almost a decade. Not that long ago they were within 90 minutes of a long-awaited top flight return but the intervening years have not been kind. Cost-cutting, poor recruitment, questionable managerial appointments and points deductions all led to the Owls' seemingly inevitable relegation last season.

A constant throughout those turbulent times has been captain and talismanic midfielder Barry Bannan who first arrived at Wednesday in 2015. The Scot surprised many by opting to stay put at Hillsborough despite relegation at the end of last season but his performances have lived up to the billing this term, with nine goals and 12 assists a healthy return.

Speaking to , Bannan knows the importance of Wednesday escaping the division at the first time of asking.

He said: "You see teams like Sunderland who drop in and nearly get straight back. Then the next season they go in as favourites and they don't quite get up. So it's getting harder as a league. This is my first year in it and it's been tough.

"All we're