HARRIS: MY LIONS ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
IF ANYONE knows ‘a good Millwall team’, it’s Lions legend and boss Neil Harris – so most people will listen up when he says he has one.
Substitute Fred Onyedinma’s first goal of the campaign secured a third straight away win for the Lions, who had not won on the road all season until last month.
Victory at struggling Blues has all but ensured mid-table Millwall’s safety in their first season back in the Championship, and Harris believes the famed club spirit is key.
“We’ve got the traits and the characteristics of a good Millwall team. The boys are so ‘at it’, so together,” he said.
“In training this week I had two teams playing 11 vs 11 – the team I wanted to start and the team that wasn’t starting.
“And I could have flipped them around and played either team today because the standard was that good.
“I said to the players at halftime it’s not about coaching, it’s not about tactics, it’s about them being more of a Millwall team in the second half.
“The second half we were much better, much more like ourselves. We dominated large periods, got our noses in front through a really good goal and could have had two or three more.”
Below-par Birmingham, meanwhile, have slipped back towards danger after a decent run had taken them out of trouble.
Boss Steve Cotterill admitted: “I’m disappointed. We couldn’t get any tempo. We needed to move the ball quicker, we didn’t do that well enough.
“We didn’t play with enough zip or enthusiasm. We didn’t play badly but we didn’t play anywhere near the levels we have played at recently.
“We had a good run, now a not-so-good run. So now we have to look to try to go on another good run.
“It was never going to be plain sailing, it’s going to be up and down and topsy-turvy for the rest of the season unfortunately.”
Blues were within inches of leading inside two minutes as Jeremie Boga’s 25-yard free-kick crept just wide of the post. Sadly for the hosts, that would be as good as it got.
On 13 minutes, George Saville intercepted Marc Roberts’ poor ball and picked out Lee Gregory’s run. He teed up Jed Wallace for a 20-yard strike that Blues keeper David Stockdale pushed away.
Three Millwall corners followed, the final one seeing Saville lash a strike in from an acute angle that was begging to be turned home in the six-yard box, but Blues managed to scramble it clear.
City’s Craig Gardner whistled an fierce shot wide from 35 yards on 20 minutes, but Millwall went close again as a free-kick fell to Saville, and he poked an instinctive shot just over from 12 yards. Chances dried up until three minutes before the break when Maxime Colin teed up Gardner, but his 25-yard drive was deflected agonisingly wide by Saville.
Millwall gradually took control after the break, a 65th minute ricochet in the box falling to Steve Morison but the veteran striker steered into the sidenetting from an acute angle. The Lions finally broke the deadlock seven minutes later, substitute Onyedinma getting in behind the Blues defence and rolling home from eight yards after his initial effort was blocked by Stockdale.
Only Stockdale prevented Millwall adding another with two minutes to go, making a superb save to tip over Jake Cooper’s close-range header from Shaun Williams’ far-post free-kick.