Manager Neil Harris and Joe Martin have both been giving their thoughts following the draw with Bradford last weekend.
Hosting the side at The Den, Millwall played out a one all draw and having warned against a much changed Bradford side, Harris was relatively content with how the day went.
Speaking to the official site he also picked out Martin for particular praise given his ‘character and determination’ on the day.
‘I think we were little reactive in the first-half rather than pro-active. Having said that, we could have scored a couple and we were very unfortunate with the own goal. At half-time I said to the boys, ‘just up the tempo a little a bit, be a little bit more aggressive in possession’. We were better in possession after the break but still not up to our usual standards.’
As for Martin, he added.
‘Joe Martin has a really dodgy shoulder. He’s had to have treatment and all sorts to get himself out on the pitch today. I said to him in-front of the players that I didn`t always praise individuals but he certainly deserved it today as up to yesterday morning he wasn’t even in contention to play. But he told me he wanted to and he`s in a lot of pain now, but it shows the man’s character and professionalism. We have been a little bit stretched of late, but once we get our players back from international duty, and including Lee Gregory from injury hopefully sooner rather then later, then that just leaves us with Shaun Cummings and Shaun Hutchinson who are both edging closer too.’
Martin himself was delighted to get his second goal in two matches against Bradford.
‘I always do the same thing – when the ball comes into the box I try to get on the edge and sometimes nick a goal. Luckily it fell perfectly, I took a swing with the right peg and it went in. In the first half Bradford showed they are a decent team, but at half-time the gaffer put it into us that we had to set the tempo and when we do that the fans get on our side. It’s very difficult for the other team to get out when we pin them in, which we did for a lot of the game.’
He added.
‘I am slightly disappointed we didn’t get all three points – we had three good chances that they either made good blocks or saves. We still haven’t lost at home though, and they were second in the league before Saturday. It wasn’t the worst point. I’d definitely say Bradford are in the mix. We’ve put ourselves up there. It’s a strong league – on paper at the start you would probably say it is tougher than last year. There are a lot of good sides that have got a bit of money. I’m sure they will be up there, like us.’
With a very busy opening to the new 2016/17 season, Martin said he had welcomed the midweek break.
‘It is a bit of a relief not to have another game in midweek where we can get injuries. We can have a bit of recovery and then be ready for Coventry at home this Saturday.’
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