Will Vaulks on the goal trail for derby rivals Sheffield Wednesday as he reminisces about his time with Rotherham United

The midfield man who spent three years with the Millers between 2016 and 2019 has scored at least once in every full year of his pro career stretching back to more than a decade.

But the 30-year-old has yet to find the net in this campaign for Sheffield Wednesday and his next chance to get off the mark comes in Saturday's South Yorkshire Championship derby against his former team at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“I'm well aware of the stat and I'm not happy about it,” said the player who last ‘notched’ in a 1-0 League One victory at Wycombe Wanderers in January 2022. “It can't go on much longer, can it? I'm playing a little bit deeper. That's my excuse!

“Scoring is something I know is in my game. It has been throughout my career. Everyone has a responsibility to score. Goals win you games. You can't rely on the strikers all the time.”

Vaulks was a hugely popular figure during his time with Rotherham as he hit the target 17 times in 137 appearances, gave his all in every game, earned a League One promotion and won the hearts of fans with his work with children's hospice Bluebell Wood.

After joining the Millers from Scottish side Falkirk, he moved on to Cardiff City and became an Owls player in the summer of 2022.

In all, despite his dry spell this term, he has 46 goals to his name. He was out of favour under previous boss Xisco Nunez but has fought his way into new boss Danny Rohl's thinking and become a key man in Wednesday's bid to beat the drop.

The drop-zone Owls are three points shy of safety as they make the short trip from S6 to S60 to take on the bottom-placed club who are playing for little more than derby pride.

Recalling his Rotherham days, Vaulks said: "I had some great times there. I had a really tough first year and then two really enjoyable years after that.

“We won promotion and then we probably should have stayed in the Championship the next year. We dropped a lot of points from winning positions.

“It feels like a lifetime ago, to be honest. It was my first real taste of English football after being in Scotland. It was kind of ‘sink or swim’. It went quite well over the course of my years there.”

Meanwhile, Wednesday's last two matches have brought wins at Millwall and at home to Bristol City and their midfielder is scenting the end of his barren run.

“Against Bristol I had the first couple of chances I've had for a few weeks,” he said. “I definitely need to chip in before the end of the season. I'll have to retire if it's a goalless one!

“I think the odds tell you at some point I'm going to score. It would be nice to get a bit further up the pitch, like I did against Bristol, and take an opportunity.”