Millwall boss reveals goal target for his central defenders – and discusses form of Shaun Hutchinson
Shaun Hutchinson was at the top of his game in Millwall’s 1-0 win at Preston North End – with manager Gary Rowett revealing the goal haul he wants from his centre-backs.
The Geordie headed in a 78th-minute decider at Deepdale.
It is the fifth time that Hutchinson has scored this season.
“In the last seven or eight games he has been getting better and better,” said Rowett. “This was his pinnacle. He is such a good defender.
“Hutch is dominant in the air for us and he was dominant in the air against [Aleksandar] Mitrovic last week. He’s also been a goalscorer – which is vastly important for us.
“I expect Coops [Jake Cooper] to be up there as well with four or five. Our centre-halves should be scoring 10-plus goals between them by the end of the season.
“Hutch’s attitude is fantastic and he is getting his rewards.
“There were some really good performances at the weekend.
“Coops stepped out from the back and was winning headers, Pearcey [Alex Pearce] was organising and Mahlon [Romeo] made a block early on in the game which was fantastic. Muzza [Murray Wallace] has been putting good performances in for a while.”
The win at Preston was another triumph for Rowett’s 5-2-3 formation.
“It’s something like four goals conceded in the eight games we’ve played that system,” he said. “I make no bones about it – sometimes we can’t control that extra bit of quality in the final third. But what we can control is being incredibly organised and difficult to score against.
“It’s going to be hard for us to be a really free-scoring team and not to worry about how many we concede.
“Tom Bradshaw is pressing from the front, even though that takes a little away from his attacking play. He’s prepared to do that for the team, which is so important.”
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