Millwall captain Shaun Hutchinson earns plaudits from head coach Joe Edwards after winner at Bristol City

Joe Edwards paid tribute to Millwall captain Shaun Hutchinson after his man of the match performance against Bristol City.

The veteran defender, 33, has been a colossus at the back for the Lions since returning to the starting 11 in place of the injured Wes Harding after Christmas.

Hutchinson followed up his strong display against Norwich with another thoroughly impressive performance against Bristol City before popping up with a superb late winner.

And Edwards was quick to laud Hutchinson’s impact after Millwall’s third win on the bounce.

The Lions head coach said of Hutchinson: “Before we talk about his goal and his impact on the game today, it’s probably been a frustrating time for him. He was injured when I arrived and hadn’t been playing, so he wasn’t ready to be in the team for my first game.

“We’ve been trying to build a bit of consistency in the backline since then so Shaun probably hasn’t played as much as he would have liked since I’ve been here. But I’ve always been aware of how important he’s been to the club and what a good captain he is.

“We lose Wes Harding a couple of games ago and Hutch steps in and not only have his performances been very, very good, but to then pop up with a winning goal that summarises what he’s done for us in the last two games.”

Millwall gave away few chances to a Bristol City side that dominated possession in the first period without overly troubling Matija Sarkic in the visiting goal.

The Lions were far more effective with their use of the ball and took charge of the game after the match with Edwards admitting afterwards that, in the long-term, he would like Millwall to become a more possession-focused team.

“In the future I would like us to be a team that has the bigger share of possession in games,” He added.

“I have been saying that at the moment, it’s not about how much you have of the ball, it’s what you do with it. Against QPR on Boxing Day, we had 30 odd percent of the ball and I wasn’t really pleased with what we did with it. Against Norwich we had a similar amount [of possession] but we were much better with it.

“At the moment we’re not going to be one of the teams that absolutely dominate possession, it’s about how effective we are when we have the ball.”