O'Connor desperate to ease pain of Sheffield Wednesday relegation

JAMES O'CONNOR wants promotion with Sheffield Wednesday this season to make amends for the 'worst experience' of his life.

The Dubliner openly admits that he is still haunted by the nightmare of the Owls' relegation on the final day of last season.

It may have been a bitter pill to swallow but, according to the former Burnley and Stoke City midfielder, it now serves to fuel his determination to bounce back. "I will never be able to describe the pain of being relegated last season and I don't think I will ever fully get over it," said O'Connor. "What happened was the worst experience of my life and the pain still eats away at me now.

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"It ruined my summer and I wanted to come back for pre-season training that very week.

"We just have to use that as a motivation now and work even harder to make sure we get back up at the first attempt."

Although rested to the bench for last weekend's 5-0 away win at Hartlepool, O'Connor is likely to be recalled for Sunday's game at Brentford after scoring twice in Wednesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy victory over Notts County.

"It wasn't a case of sending a message to anyone because I would like to think the manager knows what I can do," he reflected. "I have great respect for the management team and there is a great atmosphere in the camp.

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"From my point of view, if you are not in the team, it's just a case of getting your head down and working hard to get back in."

O'Connor is adamant that he has previously scored twice in game – against Cardiff City for Stoke City in a Championship play-off semi-final eight years ago. However, not all the record books credit O'Connor with a second goal because the strike, a 25-yard free-kick, took a crucial deflection off a team-mate.

Owls manager Alan Irvine, meanwhile, admits O'Connor's performance gave him plenty to think about ahead of the trip to Griffin Park. With summer signing Giles Coke virtually guaranteed to return to the side after sitting out the County game, Irvine is likely to opt for O'Connor or Darren Potter to partner him.

The Owls and Brentford may be sitting at oppposite ends of the table but Irvine has stressed that it is too early to read anything into league positions at this stage.

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"I know people will be talking about top versus bottom but I don't think it's time to say which teams are really bang in form or struggling yet," he said.

"It's a false situation just now because anything can happen in those early games. It will take a while before the league really sorts itself out and Brentford have enough players to cause a lot of teams problems.

"It may take 10 games for things to work themselves out and, right now, we are only four games in – I just wish there was only four to go," he added.

Winger Chris Sedgwick came off with a groin strain against County but is expected to be fit for Sunday.