George Saville has stepped up his performances in last three Millwall matches

Gary Rowett has praised George Saville’s performances since the experienced midfielder has come back into Millwall’s starting line up.

Only Danny McNamara (56) completed more passes than the former Chelsea, Wolves and Middlesbrough player (42) on Saturday. And the Northern Ireland international had the joint second-most touches in the 2-1 win at Bristol City.

It was Saville’s late lung-busting run which ended up winning the Lions a penalty. But Benik Afobe was unable to convert for the South Londoners.

Saville came out of the Lions team after the derby loss to QPR at The Den and was an unused substitute when Millwall defeated Blackpool.

He was drafted back in following the 2-1 reverse at Blackburn and has played in the middle of the pitch with Billy Mitchell.

Rowett told the South London Press: “It has been a bit of a stop-start season for him, I had a good chat with him before he came back into the team before the Rotherham game.

“Sav has been really, really consistent all the way throughout. The challenge for him when he went back in is that I think he had got more to come in terms of quality and more to come in terms of the leadership aspects in the group, because he is one of the senior ones.

“In the three games he has stepped up incredibly well.

“You can see him on the pitch organising and leading by example, but also giving really good information to people. In those three games he has been excellent.

“We know what he can do. When you have moved for a lot of money in your career and when you have played at a very, very good level the expectation is higher on you than it is on some of the other players – you’ve got to match that.

“The last three games, certainly, he has done that. He has been pretty consistent since he came back, it’s those extra little bits and his recent form has been really good. I’ve been pleased with him.”