Former Sheffield Wednesday captain makes claim on Owls fan expectation levels ahead of return

The defender made 274 appearances for the Owls across seven years, starring in two Championship play-off campaigns, and remains a popular figure among supporters.

His Terriers side, led by another former Wednesday figure in Darren Moore, arrive hoping to bounce back from a 4-1 defeat at Bimingham City in midweek.

The Owls are of course still searching for their first win of the campaign and will do so with caretaker boss Neil Thompson at the helm after the departure of Xisco.

Lees said he was looking forward to his return to playing in front of a Wednesday crowd again and touched on the atmosphere he is expecting to find at Hillsborough.

Asked about the expectation levels experienced by Owls figures, he said: “I think there’s a lot of clubs with the kind of expectations they have at Sheffield Wednesday, but they’re a massive club with big support.

“Maybe coming up from League One you usually get a bit of grace but there there’s no time.”

Huddersfield played at S6 shortly after his switch across the Pennines in the first game of the 2021/22 season, though Lees didn’t feature.

Lees has played four times against Wednesday in his career and is yet to win, achieving two draws and a defeat in the colours of Leeds United after an EFL Cup defeat while on loan at Bury.

He made clear what he hopes his current club can do to his old, citing the recent blueprint of a televised 3-0 defeat last weekend.

“We saw the other night when they played Sunderland, they scored straight away and killed the atmosphere,” Lees said.

“That’s what we’ve got to do, go and impose ourselves on it and kill the atmosphere straight away. I’m sure it’ll be a great occasion.”