Lee Gregory providing spark for Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship promotion push

Namely an unstinting work ethic and a capacity never to take anything for granted in the game.

A former electrician, the Sheffield Wednesday striker has provided a bright spark in the promotion-chasing Owls’ last two home fixtures, scoring key goals in League One victories over AFC Wimbledon and Cheltenham.

Leaders step up to the plate at this time of year and the 33-year-old Sheffielder – who earned the fulsome respect of one of the most demanding fanbases in the business in his time at former side Millwall – is proving to be one of those with his current club.

Gregory, now into double figures in goals for the season, said: “You have to work that bit harder at Millwall.

“But all fans want to see is someone working hard and fighting for the shirt and that’s the way I have been brought up and the way I will bring my kids up as well if they want to play football.

“If there’s nothing else you can give, the fans recognise stuff like that.

“When I was younger – even if I had scored four in one game – my dad used to say: ‘You could have scored five, if you’d worked that bit harder’, although he did give me some sort of credit.

“But if you are not scoring, you need to be contributing. If you don’t, you shouldn’t be playing.”

Promoted back in 2017 via the League One play-offs with Millwall, Gregory struck two goals in the Lions’ final regular game of the season at Bristol Rovers to help clinch a top-six finish.

It is food for thought for Wednesday amid a nip-and-tuck play-off race where your position after the last ball is kicked is all that truly matters – not the jockeying for position now.

On the task ahead for the fifth-placed Owls, who are three points clear of the sides just outside of the play-offs in Oxford United and Wycombe Wanderers – who are both in action this evening in away fixtures – Gregory added: “We (Millwall) got in on the last day and had momentum. We knew when we got in that we felt like we were going to go on and win it.

“We (at Sheffield Wednesday) are not panicking and we know what we have to do.”