Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

Jermaine Johnson - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

That Jermaine Johnson was a gifted player was never in question. What was in question is whether or not he took it seriously enough, was prepared to work hard enough to improve on his natural abilities and was willing to listen.

The player, with dazzling footwork and the ability to cut through any defence, would sometimes excite with his brilliance in dismantling an opposing team, only to frustrate in equal measure with his overindulgence in trickery, 'selfishness' and an unwillingness or inability to make the final pass.

Today, seven years after making the move to Britain - including a missed opportunity at Bolton Wanderers where he was signed straight to the Premiership, two loan spells at Oldham Athletic before heading back to Tivoli Gardens and a move to Bradford City in the 2006-07 season - Johnson appears to have seen what others had long ago.

"I am really focused now and working hard on trying to get back to the Premiership. It is up to me and I made one step already by getting into the championship. Now it is for me to do the rest," Johnson, who earned a move to championship team Sheffield Wednesday in the January transfer window, told The Gleaner. And Johnson indicated that he is doing much more thantalk.

"I am working on every aspect of my game - shooting, passing, tackling and dribbling. I have to do this if I am to get back to the EPL. Even when I came home for the holidays I trained.

"Each player at the club got a programme to follow. My programme involved me having to do five sets of five-minute runs at game speed twice for the week for the first two weeks before getting more intense, but even before that time, I had stepped it up," continued the player who starred for Jamaica at the age-group levels before working his way up to the senior team.

New approach

His approach off the field is also a new one.

"I am not in the party thing, not like one time, not any more. There are more important things which have to be taken care of," he said without elaborating.

Behind Johnson's new approach is competition, self-preservation and a refusal to make what could be his last chance at this level slip.

"I do much more work than was set for me because the competition is tough and I want to be the (chosen) one. The players that play my position are good," explained the player, who operates at left or right wing and sometimes at right midfield.

His time on the field at Sheffield Wednesday was limited by injury and a three-game suspension he carried over from Bradford. He managed just six games and had three goals.

The transition

"Everybody or at least the majority at the club welcomed me with open arms. I have a good relationship with the coach, Bryan Laws. Every time I get the ball, the fans stood up, expecting something special and that was good for me.

"Deon Burton, my national teammate being at Wednesday, made the transition easier for me but I was not really looking at that as anywhere I went I would have had to be comfor-table," he said of his time so far on the team that finished just two places outside the Premiership playoffs.

Johnson's contract at Sheffield Wednesday runs until 2010 - the same year of the South Africa World Cup - and he is confident of playing his part in Jamaica's qualifications.

"I have not played for the new technical director as yet, but I am happy for the new players who are getting a buss. My time will have to come because I am not finished yet."