BUSY AIDEN PUTS SAFETY FIRST
The No.1pullout that scores EVERY time Lions ace isn’t roared on by World Cup spot CARLOS TO TAKE HIS CHANS
AIDEN O’BRIEN would swap a World Cup spot for Championship survival with Millwall.
The Lions forward will be part of the Republic of Ireland squad next month bidding to head to next year’s finals.
Ireland face a two-legged play-off with Denmark to reach Russia – but the uncapped O’Brien is putting his club’s ambitions over representing his country.
Improve
O’Brien said: “I would love to go to the World Cup finals.
“But there is one thing that is more important than that and that’s to ensure Millwall have a strong season.
“I believe we can only get better and the aim is to stay at this level and give ourselves a base to build on next year.
“It’s up to us to step up to the mark. We have acquitted ourselves quite well so far but we can still improve collectively and ®Êby DARREN WITCOOP individually.” Millwall, who lie 15th in the table, have shown they can cope with the step up following promotion last season.
But the 24-year-old is frustrated that he has found life tougher on a personal level.
Millwall head to Cardiff today and O’Brien added: “I’m a bit annoyed with myself that I haven’t got more than two goals to my name so far.
“I scored 28 in the previous two seasons along with a number of assists. And I know I’m capable of maintaining that sort of consistency at this level. I believe CARLOS CARVALHAL has vowed to repay chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s faith in him by guiding Sheffield Wednesday back into the promotion shake-up.
The Owls have tumbled to 16th and the fans are split on whether boss Carvalhal should stay or go.
But owner Chansiri assured the Portuguese his job is safe during crunch talks three days ago and is backing him to pull his underachieving team out of their slump.
The Thai millionaire said: “I still support Carlos 100 per cent. I understand expectation levels are high in myself and my ability to score. So I’m disappointed when I don’t measure up to the targets I set.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff boss Neil Warnock is looking to take inspiration from boxer Anthony Joshua, who fights Carlos Takam in the city tonight.
The Yorkshireman said: “We are hoping to deliver our own knockout. That would be nice.
“I thought about going to the fight but it’s difficult when you’ve got a match, it’s great for the city.
“I’ve been surprised how good the city in general is. There’s a good buzz around the place and it fits in perfectly with how well the football team is doing.” ®Êby EDDIE KIRK but I want the fans to get behind him and the players.”
Ahead of today’s Yorkshire derby at home to Barnsley, Carvalhal said: “It is not a big surprise to me that the chairman supports me totally.
“We are here with a big commitment to the club, working hard and people know we have quality.
“When you have that relationship, it’s not when you have a bad moment that you must change things.
“That is the easy thing to do, but to put the team at good levels all the time is not easy. We are not in a good period at this moment, but we believe we will be again.
“When you are in good moments, people are smiling and you don’t see their personality.
“When I have a problem, in the bad moments, I will know what kind of player, fan and chairman you are.
“In this period, what I like from my players is to take a step in front and don’t hide.
“If you hide, if you don’t want to play, you can be a good player but you are not a man.”