Manager Neil Harris has credited the Millwall side for producing a brilliant performance in the televised game against League One leaders Burton Albion yesterday evening.
Hosting the table toppers at The Den for the game in front of the Sky cameras, goals from Aiden O’Brien and Lee Gregory gave Millwall a largely comfortable two nil victory on the day, and for Harris he knew it was the perfect response to a disappointing loss to Bradford City in the first Easter Weekend fixture.
Speaking to the official site in his post game press conference, Harris’ delight at the commanding performance was clear to see.
‘I thought it was a brilliant test for my team tonight – a real test of character. You do hope results go your way and they didn’t, which we knew before kick-off. The challenge to the boys was to go out and put a marker down to everybody else, but also to put in another proper Millwall performance.’
Harris went on to praise how well the side had carried out the game plan on the day.
‘We focused quite a lot on Burton’s high line and our style of play of getting in behind with Lee Gregory. It was taken into consideration with my team selection on Saturday. We knew Lee would be really important tonight and I thought him and Steve Morison led the line extremely well, as they have done for the majority of the season. Overall I thought it was a fantastic result and a brilliant performance. We’re aggressive and organised and I think you can see the spirit in the group. If somebody does something wrong then they are not afraid to tell them and it’s accepted. That’s good and it’s the way it has got to be in our dressing room. And when somebody does really well there is a lot of people waiting to tell them and pat them on the back, and that’s key.’
Adding.
‘We’re getting much better at covering each other’s positions and that doesn’t just come from desire – that comes from knowledge of the game. It’s important that they learn all the time and that the senior players use all their experience to guide the team through difficult little patches in the game. There were times tonight when I thought the centre-halves in particular were outstanding and what epitomised it for me was Joe Martin’s back stick header against Lucas Akins.’
Martin’s header covering the cross into the box was widely praised by the pundits on the tele box as well.
Moving on, the goal scorers on the day came in for praise from the gaffer as well, O’Brien especially given his barren run in front of the net, but also Shaun Williams.
‘I believe in the young man. He’s got a lot of ability, class and energy, and he is a young man in his first full season. He had a blistering start when he came back from injury and sustained it for a few months, and he’s just had a little dip in form. I played him through a bit of it then I took him out and I’ve put him back in the last two games, and it gives me real competition for places and food for thought with international players coming back. It wasn’t just his goal, which was an outstanding finish, it was his overall performance which was very good.’
As for Williams, he went on to add.
‘I thought he did really well in the middle of the park. His ball for Greggs’ goal was outstanding. The weight of pass and his vision to see the ball was befitting of Leagues higher than this. He has got that quality. I said before about the balance I’ve got in midfield with Shaun, Jimmy Abdou and Ben Thompson. They all bring different traits.’
With Saturday’s trip to Colchester United next up for Millwall, Harris went on to talk about his delight at having the selection dilemma’s he now does as obviously we have Abdou and Shane Ferguson return to contention following their international duty.
‘Jimmy has without doubt been one of our most consistent performers over the last couple of months and Ferguson’s ability and quality has been a real plus since he signed. We’ll check on them Thursday when they come back in from the international break and we then focus on Colchester. Selection dilemmas? Yes, definitely, which is brilliant for me at this stage of the season. I’ve just said to the boys that was a fantastic result and performance, but we need to get back to winning ways away from home.’