‘I can concentrate fully on the season’ – Billy Mitchell on signing new long-term Millwall contract

Billy Mitchell is delighted to have signed a new Millwall contract and says he will now be able to focus “fully” on the new season.

The Lions academy product has signed a new long-term deal with the South London club after making 42 appearances in the Championship last season.

Mitchell told Millwall’s Recast platform: “It’s been in the making for a few weeks now. The season is starting next Saturday so I’m pleased to finally get the deal over the line and now concentrate fully on the start of the season.

“Millwall is where I want to be right now and it’s certainly a massive confident boost when you have a set of staff that truly believe in you and they make me feel that every day.  It’s been very steady [my rise at the club], I don’t want to jinx it but so far everything has been pretty smooth and this season will be a continuation of that.

“I’m really, really excited of where we are going to go this season – some really good signings, some positive performances in pre-season so far. I want to be a part of that and hopefully if I continue my progress at the rate so far, I’ll be really happy.

“Everyone wants to score goals but the staff have made me aware throughout pre-season that it is equally important to continue to work on your strengths and try and patrol the middle of the pitch more, go forward earlier and those are things that we’re working on day in day out.

“You always want healthy competition, if there’s not people are prone to taking their foot off the gas. But we’ve got a lot of central midfielders this season as we did last season. That’s going to push me to be better.

“Everyone’s really excited [for the new season], it feels like not to long ago that the season ended and it’s come around really quickly.

“We’ve got a fantastic squad, a lot of good business has been done and it’s a really great place to be now. The pitch is looking amazing and I’m really exited to get back out there.

“The new deal has put the icing on the cake. Every season we look to get better and there’s no reason why we can’t improve on last seasons finish.