Sheff Wed players to fulfil Leicester opener

Barry Bannan has made almost 500 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesdays players will fulfil their opening game of the Championship season against Leicester City on Sunday, BBC Sport understands.

The Owls have had a tumultuous off-season as players and staff have had wages delayed during May, June and July, registration embargoes have been issued, the North Stand at Hillsborough has been closed because of concerns over its structural integrity and boss Danny Rohl has left the club.

In the lead-up to taking on Leicester, the BBC learned that the EFL was concerned that the club may not be able to fulfil its opening fixture, while a behind-closed-doors training match with Burnley was cancelled after the players refused to play.

On Tuesday morning, when asked whether the players could go on strike and refuse to play against the Foxes, club captain Barry Bannan told Talksport: "No, I dont think so.

"We pulled out of the Burnley game at the weekend, that was simply because its happened too much now and I think its a lot easier to pull put of a pre-season friendly game than it is a Championship fixture.

"Weve come into training and just got on with it and made it look to the outside world like were fine with it, so that was our choice then to say enoughs enough really."

BBC Sport understands the first-team squad who have been fit enough to train this week are available for selection.

Bannan, last week, signed a new contract with the club despite their ongoing financial struggles.

The 35-year-old, who has made 447 appearances for the Owls in 10 seasons, said he had turned down "interest from elsewhere" to continue his stay at Hillsborough.

Wednesday, who have also missed payments to HMRC and face rising debts, have just 15 first-team squad members.

Sundays game at Leicester is being televised and Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust plans to protest against owner Dejphon Chansiri during the fixture.

Sheffield Wednesday lost £178m between 2015, when Dejphon Chansiri bought the club, and 2024.

Chansiri was keen to invest and speculate in terms of player purchases and higher wages when he initially arrived.

It should be remembered that Wednesday were in the Championship play-offs - looking for promotion to the Premier League - twice in the early years.

However, it appears that Chansiris ability to provide finance for the club has diminished more recently - the past couple of years in particular.

That has led to wages not being paid, creditors not being paid and a lack of maintenance on the stadium.

As a result of that, one of the stands at Hillsborough is deemed not to be fit for purpose and will be empty when Wednesday play their first games.

This is a case of people chasing the dream and then wondering what to do when that dream doesnt come true.

And it is an ongoing issue in the second tier of English football, in the sense that average losses are £400,000 per week.

If an owners circumstances change, as appears to be the case with Chansiri, or if an owners attitude towards football changes and they feel they no longer want to subsidise clubs - as we have seen elsewhere - then there are going to be consequences which leave clubs futures looking quite precarious.

We have seen quite a few clubs go into administration and even worse issues somewhere like Morecambe, who are in genuine danger of ceasing to exist.