Llera sure Owls can hunt down leaders Charlton

The Spanish defender, who was dumped by the Addicks last summer, says they have been ‘lucky’ so far and could yet hit the skids next weekend against Sheffield United.

Llera, 32, signed an 18-month deal with the Owls last week after being released by Championship club Blackpool.

He played as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 defeat by Charlton last weekend and is keen to play a bigger role during the remaining 21 games of the season.

Llera spoke out in the wake of comments by Owls manager Gary Megson who feels that Charlton are now ‘champions elect’.

It may have been an act of psychological warfare but Megson insists that the rest of the top five – including the Owls, the Blades and Huddersfield Town – are now battling for second spot.

The Addicks are four points clear of second-placed United with a game in hand, seven points clear of third-placed Town, who have also played a game more, and eight clear of the Owls, who dropped to fourth after Saturday’s defeat.

“We can still catch Charlton –there are too many games left this season,” Llera said.

“If they keep up this luck and the same performances, they probably will be champions – but they have not yet had that moment in the season that every club has. Why not in the next game? It is impossible to keep the same level. They can have a bad moment.”

Llera says the nature of last weekend’s defeat epitomised Charlton’s luck with captain Jonnie Jackson scoring the only goal of the game from a 20 yard free-kick.

“I played two seasons with Jonnie Jackson and in two seasons he never scored one goal from a free-kick,” he reflected. “Now he is scoring. All the things they do are falling.

“They are a good team and (I wonder if) it is their season? Every game, they have one chance and they score and the opposition misses three or four chances. That’s football. But they have not had any injuries this season and are playing more or less the same team every week.”

Llera is still unhappy with the nature of his departure from Charlton but holds no ill-feeling towards the club’s players or management.

“I left Charlton because they didn’t want to offer me a new deal – I don’t know why that was because I didn’t give the club any problems. I trained hard and I was professional. I would like Sheffield Wednesday to catch Charlton. We are fighting for promotion and we must get that.”

After his disappointment at The Valley, Llera joined Blackpool, who had spent the previous nine months in the Premier League.

The move turned into a nightmare and Llera blames the Bloomfield Road board for sabotaging his attempt to become a first-team regular.

He made only one appearance for the Tangerines – ironically, against the Owls in the Carling Cup.

Asked why the move had not worked out, Llera said: “It is easy to explain. The chairman didn’t want to pay me for July. My deal started on August 1 and I couldn’t play any of the friendlies. Every time we had any contact games, I was out running. If I couldn’t play in a friendly, I couldn’t get started playing.

“It was a very big disappointment and I had a chat with the manager (Ian Holloway). He said if I played five or 10 games away on loan, ‘you will play for me’ but when I came back to Blackpool I didn’t have any chance of playing.

“This is football. As one door closes, another opens. If I didn’t go out on loan, I wouldn’t have known Sheffield Wednesday. For me, it was good to go out and show that Miguel could play every weekend.”

Although Llera spent a season playing in the Spanish top-flight with Gimnastic, he describes Wednesday as the biggest club of his career.

He arrived in English football with Milton Keynes Dons at the age of 29 and moved to Charlton as a free agent 12 months later.

With both clubs, he reached play-off semi-finals only to lose on penalties to Scunthorpe United and Swindon Town, respectively.

“If we end up in the play-offs this season, it will be my third time in four years,” he said. “But after what has happened in the past, I obviously hope we go up automatically.

“This is the biggest club I have played for. The crowd is unbelievable, the stadium is wonderful, and the club should be in the Championship. I have come here to help this team and the manager win promotion. And I know the team is playing well but I will wait for my chance.”

The Owls, meanwhile, have offered supporters an opportunity to save money by purchasing 2012-13 season tickets in the next six weeks.

Sales will be suspended from March 2 until the summer when a bigger price increase is set to come into play.

Chairman Milan Mandaric said: “I feel it is really important to reward our supporters with the chance to buy their season tickets early at a cheaper price, irrespective of the division in which we are playing next season.”