Sheffield Wednesday legend Mark Bright on the role Sheffield United could play in the Owls promotion push

Garry Monk’s men sit eighth in the Championship well within reach of the play-off spots as they turn the corner into the busiest period of the season.

And having seen a few of Wednesday’s games this season, Bright believes they have what it takes to challenge the division’s top spots – providing a points deduction doesn’t take hold.

Bright, who was top scorer at the club for three consecutive seasons and played a key role in the famous ‘Cup Finals’ team of 1993, said he was impressed at the strides Monk has made in his short time at the club.

He scored the goal that beat Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final that season and said that the attention being afforded to the Blades this season could provide the added motivation the Owls need to follow them into the Premier League.

“Do you know what? I think they could be close,” he said.

“The thing is, to watch the other side of the city doing what they’re doing, getting up before Wednesday, that hurts but all credit to them, they’ve been great and they play some good stuff. It will hurt that bit more.”

Wednesday make the trip to table-topping West Brom on Saturday hoping to draw a line under disappointing results against Blackburn and Swansea before the international break.

And Bright, who scored 48 goals in the Premier League for the club, believes Monk’s way of doing things could pay dividends come May.

“This could be Wednesday’s year,” he said. “I left in 1996 and I’m still Sheffield Wednesday’s leading scorer in the Premier League. That just should not be the case. We’re 20 years on, that club has spent too long out of the top flight.

“People say, ‘a club of that size, they deserve to be in the Premier League’. It doesn’t work like that. The team needs an identity and a way of playing and I think they’re getting there.

“It’s about seizing opportunities. You put the hard work in and it starts to come that bit easier, you think you’ll never get beaten. We had that at times and it was a hell of a feeling.”

This article is one of a series with Wednesday legend Mark Bright.My Story: From Foster Care to Footballer by Mark Bright is published by Constable on 7 November in hardback, £20.