Birmingham keeper earns praise after vital save to deny Millwall a Championship victory

John Eustace hailed John Ruddy’s performance after the stopper made a vital save to deny Tyler Burey a winner in Millwall’s 0-0 draw against Birmingham City.

Burey raced through on the Birmingham goal in the 70th minute but the Blues keeper denied him.

The Lions are ninth in the Championship.

Eustace said: “I am delighted with the way we defended. It was a new experience for a couple of them – Manny [Emmanuel Longelo], Hannibal [Mejbri], Auston Trusty so for them to come through with a clean sheet is really pleasing.

“I said from day one we want to be competitive and hard to play against. We conceded 75 goals last season, the most important thing is we are hard to play against. To get another clean sheet was really pleasing.

“Their only opportunity came from our mistake. John came to the rescue and made a terrific save. Apart from that I never felt in danger at all. I am sure they didn’t either. John has made two important saves in the last two matches.

“He has been great but it’s a collective. John gets paid to be a goalkeeper, he has made a couple of good saves, brilliant, it’s what I expect. I expect my strikers to score, I expect our midfielders to defend, that’s part of their job.

“The lads stuck together, they defended for their lives – we knew it was going to be a very physical challenge out there. The back five and the midfield three were excellent in dealing with that.

“Again, I am pleased with the point and there is a lot to take away from tonight. I know we can be better with the ball, but first and foremost we want to be difficult to play against.”