Danny McNamara on signing his new Millwall contract – and why summer transfer speculation never fazed or distracted him

Danny McNamara says that he did not find the summer transfer speculation over his Millwall future distracting and reckons his commitment to the cause cannot be questioned.

The 23-year-old signed a long-term contract on Monday afternoon to end any doubts about where he would be playing his football.

QPR had made more than one bid for McNamara over the summer but each was swiftly rebuffed by the Lions, who were always intent on their academy product committing to extended and improved terms.

Millwall made a breakthrough in talks with the right-sided defender and his representative at the end of last week with the formalities wrapped up in time to provide the club’s fanbase with positive news ahead of Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Swansea.

“I’m delighted that it is finally done,” McNamara told the South London Press. “It’s been a long month or so. But we got to where we wanted. I can settle now and concentrate on my football – I can try and progress on again this season.

“I try to ignore [the reports that QPR were bidding for him] and put that to the side. I’m signed at Millwall, so my main aim is to play for Millwall and concentrate on what I’m doing at the moment.

“I wanted to start my pre-season as strongly as I could to get myself ready for the start of the season.

“All the stuff that goes on in the background I just try to leave it there in the background. It’s all part and parcel of a footballers’ career. If you’ve had a good season, or a good few seasons, and you’ve got a little bit of interest then I suppose it is quite exciting. But I know where my head is at and the club know where my head is at.”

McNamara, who has made 59 first-team appearances for Millwall, has an emphatic answer for anyone trying to suggest the protracted nature of negotiations meant he has not been fully focused on his boyhood club.

“That sort of stuff I ignore -because it is total rubbish, to be honest,” he said. “You can tell by what I do on the pitch – and how I give 110 per cent every week. So if you’re questioning where my head is at when I’m out there then you’ve got that totally wrong.

“I think it is more the small minority of the fans that have to have their say. If you actually watch the games and come down to The Den you see I give my absolute all.

“My family know how much I love the club. My whole family supports them.”

Millwall have extended the deals of other key components of Gary Rowett’s squad – Shaun Hutchinson, Billy Mitchell, Murray Wallace and Tyler Burey – and McNamara’s extension means no repeat of the Jed Wallace scenario at the end of the previous campaign.

“It’s exciting times for the club – for the players and the fans,” said McNamara. “The club have got ambitions and they know they are going in the right direction.

“The way I look at it is that the club is only going to move one way – and that’s forward.

“My ambition, and a lot of the players’ ambitions, is to get this club into the Premier League.

“Everyone wants to play in the Premier League when they are a kid and we all feel the same way now, when we are in the game.

“With the signings we have made I think we’ve got a hell of a chance, whether it is this season or the next couple of seasons. Do I think I’m miles off it? I know I’ve got things to improve on, but I don’t think it is unrealistic. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing, keep working hard and see what happens.”

The Lions produced a remarkable comeback in South Wales in midweek as two stoppage time own goals earned a point. And they also went 2-0 down against Coventry City at The Den on Saturday, only to turn it around with George Saville scoring an 85th-minute winner.

“It’s not something we want to keep doing,” said McNamara, whose near-post cross was turned in by Swansea defender Ben Cabango to halve the deficit.

“We keep giving teams that little bit of edge to come at us and play with a bit more confidence or positivity.

“It’s something we need to improve on if we want to push up the table and move forward.

“My crossing is something I’ve been working on and I still need to keep doing that.

“But to do it last night was special. To go on and draw the game, it felt like a win. The lads were buzzing off their nut.

“We can’t keep letting those 2-0 leads happen because it means we end up chasing the game.”

Next up is a trip to Norwich tonight.

The Canaries got their first Championship victory on the board with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield at Carrow Road on Tuesday.

Dean Smith’s side had 12 shots on target in a 2-1 loss at Hull last weekend and 22 efforts, but only four on target, in a 1-1 draw with Wigan on the opening day.

McNamara said: “We know what Norwich are capable of. They are a top, top side in this division and they probably will get promoted this season.

“But we’ll show our fighting character, like we did on Tuesday, and try and get a result. Every game in this league is tough. I don’t think we’ll go to any place this season and say: ‘We’ll walk over these today’. Every match is a battle.”

Millwall have seven more fixtures before the international break next month. But there are no groans about that hectic workload from McNamara.

“It’s a positive really,” he said. “I like to play Saturday-Tuesday and Saturday-Wednesday. I think the other lads do too. I like to keep the momentum.

“Before you know it we’ll be moaning we’ve got two weeks’ rest.”

McNamara, capped at U21 level by the Republic of Ireland, would love not to be putting his feet up then. He said: “Definitely – I really want to get that Ireland call up. Hopefully it can come in September.

“I’ve got to keep my head down and try and get noticed by Stephen Kenny.

“Hopefully my dream can come true eventually.”