Lee Gregory has explained his thought process after Sheffield Wednesday won the League One play-offs last season.
It was a year yesterday that Sheffield Wednesday claimed a historic 1-0 win over Barnsley to win promotion back to the Championship.
Just weeks earlier, the Owls looked destined for another season in the third tier as they were thrashed 4-0 by Peterborough United in the semi-final first leg.
However, they went onto pull off one of the biggest comebacks in English football as they won 5-1 in the second leg, before winning the penalty shoot-out to progress to the final.
Lee Gregory was one of five different scorers at Hillsborough and went onto claim a starting spot at Wembley.
The Yorkshire outfit looked set for penalties until the striker lifted a cross into the box for Josh Windass to perform a diving header and give Wednesday the victory right at the death.
Gregory, his teammates and the fans were ecstatic, but the 35-year-old was also full of relief.
Lee Gregory was ‘just relieved’ after Wembley winner
Speaking to The Star, Gregory said: “Honestly? ‘Thank f*** for that’ – that was what I was thinking.
“It’s emotionally draining, emotionally and physically draining, the whole day. Everything is around that one game, and you just feel knackered from start to finish.
“Obviously it went to extra time and I remember looking up with like 25 minutes of it gone and thinking, ‘Oh God, I’m going to have to take a penalty in this’.
“The Gaffer asked me if I was alright, and I said I was fine because I never want to come off, but I knew it meant I’d have to take a penalty… So when we scored I was just relieved that I wouldn’t have to do that now.
“I didn’t even know that the time was when we scored, I knew it was late but I didn’t know it’d be like the last touch. I remember ‘Sivvy’ (Jamie Smith) coming over and telling me to take as long as I could.”
The striker became a cult hero at Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday’s play-off campaign will go down in the history books and will never be forgotten by the supporters.
For that season, many of the players from that season will go down with hero status, and Lee Gregory is certainly not one to be forgotten.
The veteran picked up 16 goal contributions in League One and played a vital role in their promotion.
He didn’t find as much success in the Championship and has now been released, but he has received so much support since his departure and will always receive a warm welcome if he returns to Hillsborough.
The post 'I remember': Lee Gregory shares how he felt in extra-time during Sheffield Wednesday play-off win appeared first on Sheffield Wednesday News.