George Long praises Millwall’s defensive resolve after gritty shutout recorded at Reading
BY ALEX GRACE
George Long believes his Millwall side are embracing their strong defensive unity after they recorded a second 1-0 win in three Championship away games at Reading on Saturday afternoon.
The resullt that move the Lions back into the Championship play-off places.
“I don’t think we’ll remember the performance too much,” said Long. “But three points, that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Our away form has really picked up in the second half of the season. A win and a clean sheet, I can’t ask for much better than that.”
It was another contest in which Millwall showed strong defensive resolve, taking the lead after just 11 minutes and managing to prevent Reading from having a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
“It’s been a bit of a theme,” said Long. “It’s similar to the Stoke one, going 1-0 up in the first half and then digging in for the second half. We’ve not performed incredibly well, in terms of keeping the ball and showing bits of brilliance, but we are just really hard to break down. We showed that today. Going away from home and not having a shot on your goal is brilliant. You’d be buzzing for them every week, wouldn’t you? It’s credit to the lads in front of me, they kept him [Andy Carroll] so quiet.
“If they did have a shot, it was from outside the box and we didn’t let him hit the target. All credit to the boys in front.”
The end of the game followed patterns such as the QPR and Stoke games where the final stages have seen Millwall dig deep and put everything on the line to win, something the former Hull keeper says his team-mates are starting to embrace.
“The big one is the mentality of the lads. When it’s the last 10 minutes, and teams are throwing everything at us, everyone stands up to the test and no one shys away from it. Everyone is willing to put their head on the line and clear the box, sticking their foot in where it hurts sometimes. We’ve done that many times over the season. We’re just used to it now and sort of embrace it a little bit.”
The Lions head back to SE16 for two home games before the international break against Swansea and Huddersfield. Should they record two victories they will head into the final eight games of the season inside the play-off places. The 29-year-old says he and his team-mates will be going into those two games with great confidence but not looking too far ahead.
“Our home form has been excellent,” said Long. “I know we got beaten by Norwich but on the whole it’s been outstanding, really. Going into two home games before a break gives us confidence and we’ll be going into both of them, looking to take maximum points.
“None of us are looking too far ahead. It’s an old cliche, isn’t it? But you can’t plan ahead in football. You’ve literally got to take each game as it comes. You can’t take anything for granted, especially this late on in the season. You’ve got to really earn every victory and every point you get. It’s literally focus on the next one. Try and get the win and move on.
“At home we are always confident going up against anyone. We had a really tough run before coming here with Sheffield United, Burnley and Norwich. It’s been a tough period. But we’ve taken some big points out of those games. We will be confident going into those two games.”