After a disastrous season, Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation from the Championship might be confirmed in the coming weeks.

This season was always going to be difficult for Wednesday after a mass exodus over the summer, but their task of avoiding relegation became nearly impossible after they were hit with a 12-point deduction for entering administration in October, followed by a further six-point penalty imposed in December for multiple late wage payments under former owner Dejphon Chansiri.

With the Owls’ on-field struggles worsening throughout the season, they are currently bottom of the Championship table with minus seven points, a staggering 39 points from safety with only 15 games remaining.

Wednesday are now on a club record 25-game winless streak, with their last victory coming at Portsmouth in mid-September, and they have not scored a single goal in their last ten matches across all competitions.

After such a calamitous era, the Owls may face further humiliation if they are relegated before the end of February, which would be one of the earliest in English football history, and the two prospective opponents will just add to the misery.

Barry Bannan may relegate Sheffield Wednesday on Hillsborough return after Millwall departure.

Wednesday’s relegation may be confirmed as early as this Saturday, when they meet Millwall at Hillsborough, but other results would also have to go against them.

To lose this weekend, the Owls would need to lose to the Lions, while Blackburn Rovers would need to avoid defeat at Queens Park Rangers, which might be their first game under Gary Rowett if his hiring is confirmed in the coming days.

Given that Wednesday have not won in nearly five months and Millwall are presently fifth in the standings and firmly in the automatic promotion race, anything less than a win for Alex Neil’s team on Saturday would be surprising.

However, while they have long accepted their fate, it would undoubtedly be difficult for Owls fans to get the ultimate blow from the Lions after former long-serving captain Barry Bannan moved to The Den last month.

Bannan scored 37 goals and assisted 75 times in 477 appearances for Wednesday over more than a decade before leaving in January, and he had previously indicated his wish to stay in S6 for the remainder of his career.

However, with Stoke City, Preston North End, Motherwell, and Hibernian all chasing his signature, Bannan decided to end his Owls career last month to join Millwall, and while it will undoubtedly be an emotional return to Hillsborough for the Scot on Saturday, he could also help send his former employers into League One.

Sheffield Wednesday would prefer Barry Bannan, Millwall blow to Sheffield United’s embarrassment.

It would undoubtedly sting Wednesday fans if they were demoted by Bannan’s Millwall, but it would undoubtedly be much more agonizing to lose to fierce rivals Sheffield United the following weekend.

If the Owls manage to avoid relegation this weekend, their fate could be sealed against the Blades when they travel to Bramall Lane next Sunday.

United won the first Steel City derby of the season 3-0 at Hillsborough in November, and with Chris Wilder’s team in need of points as they attempt to maintain their play-off drive, they will be strong favourites to win again in the reverse fixture.

While Blades fans would love to see their team relegate their rivals to League One, it would be the latest crushing blow in what has been a dreadful season for the Owls.

After launching an infamous rant following Wednesday’s victory at Hillsborough in March, in which he took great pleasure in claiming he had ended Wednesday’s season while also highlighting the growing gap between the two clubs, Wilder is unlikely to pass up the opportunity to stick the boot into the blue half of Sheffield once more if he is the man to send them down.

In fact, Wilder may enjoy the occasion even more than normal because, assuming EFL approval, the Owls will be taken over by the Blades’ erstwhile advisor James Bord, who played a key role in the contentious decision to replace him with Ruben Selles in the summer.

As Wednesday fans brace themselves for relegation, they may believe there will be no positive outcome from the next two games, but most would rather see Millwall cement their fate on Bannan’s return than suffer a Bramall Lane nightmare next weekend.