Millwall winger Jed Wallace: Birmingham boss gave me my big break in professional football

Jed Wallace faces the manager who gave him his big break in professional football tomorrow – but there is not set to be any sentiment as the Millwall winger chases three points.

Birmingham boss Steve Cotterill, pictured inset right, was in charge at Portsmouth when they snapped up the Reading-born wideman from Lewes in 2011.

Wallace went on to become a regular in the Pompey side and was voted into the 2015 PFA League Two Team of the Year before a big move to Wolves.

“Steve signed me from non-league and left for Nottingham Forest a few months later when Portsmouth were having financial trouble,” said the 23-year-old.

“Steve took me off the park field when I was just playing football part-time and attending college three times a week. I owe him a lot for giving me my first break in professional football.”

Millwall are aiming to avoid a third straight Championship defeat and follow up the visit of the Blues with away days at Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday.

There is extra reliance on the Lions delivering at The Den with just three points collected from six fixtures on the road.

Wallace said: “Our away form has been an anti-climax this season.

We’ve put in some very good performances at Nottingham Forest, QPR and most of the Brentford game.

“We should have come away with more points and we need to start winning some away games.

“We played very well in the second half against Brentford but we didn’t capitalise on our dominance and we’re still waiting on that elusive away win.

“We’ve been beaten against Brentford and Wolves by 25-yard strikes – that’s the only difference in the game. We had a lot of possession and set-pieces that we didn’t capitalise on and we should have taken a point.”

Neil Harris’s side have lost two league games in a row after going four consecutive games unbeaten before a 3-1 reverse to Barnsley on home turf. Lee Gregory’s 81stminute penalty against Brentford was saved after the striker had scored from open play following a foul in the penalty area on Wallace – unfortunately referee Lee Probert had already whistled for a spot-kick.

“We’re not going to lose sleep about losing two in a row just as we won’t start thinking of promotion after winning two in a row,” Wallace said.

“We know this is going to be a difficult season for us adjusting to the division. We had some positives to take out of the Brentford game compared to Barnsley, when there were hardly any. A disallowed goal and a saved penalty cost us in the end.

“We have some difficult away games coming up but every game is difficult. We’re not deluded enough as a promoted team to not realise our home form will be crucial.

“The bigger games suit us in terms of us keeping our shape and hitting teams on the counter-attack. Last season against teams like Walsall and Bury, we struggled to break them down at home but beat three Premier League teams in the FA Cup. It’s no coincidence that when we sit in our shape, we end up hurting teams on the counter – which is what we’ll be looking to do Saturday.”

Birmingham defeated Cardiff City 1-0 last weekend in Cotterill’s first game as manager. Harry Redknapp was sacked on September 16 after six straight losses.

Wallace said: “Birmingham are very game and they have a lot of pace and power.

“They’re very direct, more similar to us. We’ll need to be at our best to get a positive result – but I always back us playing at home.

“We must show the same attitude and level of intensity as we have in every game this season, apart from Barnsley.

“Birmingham have a big budget and have bought some very good players. I expect them to be doing well this season even after their slow start.

“We’ve spurned point after point this season and we look at the stats after every game that prove our performance levels are not matching our points tally.

“No disrespect to League One, but in that division you can afford to miss a few good chances and get away with it but this season we’re playing against £5million players every other weekend. ” The Lions have had key men in Steve Morison, Byron Webster and Shaun Williams all out with injuries. The latter two are longterm.

Wallace said: “It’s not ideal to be missing Steve, Shaun and Byron , it’s the equivalent of Chelsea losing Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry during their prime.

“Those three players have been our core. They are very important players for Millwall, but it shows the strength of the squad that we can cope with their loss compared to last season. Ryan Tunnicliffe was outstanding against Brentford. No one who has come in has let the team down. That’s what we have a squad for and now we must all step up to the plate.

“Steve’s an important figure at the club, on and off the field, but big Tom Elliott has been a massive miss for us since his injury – he did very well when he came on against Brentford.

“A player of his stature needs two or three games to get settled in the team. He handled himself very well considering he had been out for six weeks.

“It gives the manager a different option in terms of going direct, his link play and goalscoring ability.

“He’ll be a really good player for Millwall and he has a great opportunity to stake a claim.”

Wallace has started every Championship match since his summer move from Wolves.

“I know if I have a tough spell in a game that I won’t be dragged off and I’ll have an opportunity to put it right,” he said. “It was difficult at Wolves, I would play one game every six weeks and it’s hard to make an impact without building up a rhythm.”