Millwall manager explains his thinking behind defender switch for Boro match

BY ALEX GRACE

Gary Rowett has explained his reasons for starting Danny McNamara in the 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The right-sided defender had started six consecutive league games until Mahlon Romeo was put back in for the 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

McNamara was an unused sub in nine of the 10 matches before the visit of Boro.

Rowett explained “On Wednesday [at QPR] Mahlon was excellent but his numbers in terms of his output were really, really high. When you’ve got a player like Danny there I thought it was the right time to do that [put him back into the starting 11].

“Mahlon goes away for the international break so he gets a little breather going into that. It was sensible to put Danny back in.”

Billy Mitchell was also handed a start in place of Ben Thompson, who missed the game through illness.

“Thommo was ill but I probably would have played Billy Mitchell anyway,” said Rowett. “Billy Mitchell’s energy, driving us forward in the game, there were always going to be a lot of second balls, midfield battles and he did really well.

“I’ve said it before, we’ve got some really good young players at the club. What we’re starting to see is a couple of them really embedding themselves into the team and performing well at Championship level.

“Hats off to all the guys who have worked with those players.”