STEVEN Gregory believes he can become Cherries’ newest midfield enforcer – but knows he will face stiff competition to fill Anton Robinson’s boots.

Gregory was handed his Cherries debut in Saturday’s 3-0 reverse at Charlton Athletic and turned in a composed, assured display as Lee Bradbury’s men thumped Dagenham & Redbridge 5-0 in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.

The 24-year-old has been thrown in at the deep end following his summer move from league new boys AFC Wimbledon and will be battling for a central midfield role with Harry Arter and Mark Molesley when Sheffield Wednesday visit the Seward Stadium on Saturday.

And the Aylesbury-born star knows boss Bradbury will be looking for either him or Molesley to follow in the footsteps of Robinson and Marvin Bartley and develop into the club’s latest engine room spoiler.

Gregory told the Echo: “I still don’t know whether Anton’s boots are mine to fill. He is a quality player and a big loss but I don’t know yet whether it will be down to me to replace him or whether it will be someone else. Harry Arter is going to step up, Mark Molesley is here and I think Bradders is looking to bring in another midfielder as well.

“I have to work hard on the breakdown side of the game in midfield because I am not traditionally an aggressive player. I know I need to work on that and because of my size and height, I have been put in front of the back four at times to try and break things up. I can pass the ball fairly well and I guess I have a mix of the two abilities to a certain extent.

“I hope I can be as good as Anton and I am working hard on that side of the game. I want to be that sort of player.”

Reflecting on Cherries’ opening two games of the campaign, Gregory added: “It was really important for us to get a positive result against Dagenham and we would have taken 1-0, but 5-0 will be great for our confidence and should stand us in good stead for Saturday.

“Last season, my first game was Southport away so it was quite a big difference finding myself starting at the Valley a year later. It’s where I want to be, though, and I was really happy to get the start but disappointed with the result.

“Saturday is a massive game for us and we will be full of confidence after the Dagenham result. Sheffield Wednesday is a massive club and you would expect them to be right up there at the top of the league come the end of the season.

“But we won’t be fazed by them. We’ll be the underdogs but we will do what we do best and try to get a good result.”