‘I don’t ever want to go to Ewood Park again!’ – Millwall midfielder on playing Blackburn at second attempt and also key to recovering in hectic schedule

“I don’t want to go to Ewood Park ever again,” was Billy Mitchell’s jokey response when asked what time he got back from Tuesday’s match at Blackburn.

The answer was 4:40am on Wednesday before the Millwall midfielder was able to hit the sack in Sidcup.

And it was the second time that Millwall had made the trip up to Lancashire after the initial fixture on February 19 was postponed just 45 minutes before kick-off due to unsatisfactory pitch conditions.

“It would’ve been a horrible journey if we hadn’t come away with a point after being turned away the first time,” said Mitchell.

“We stayed in a different hotel. I’m not sure as to the reason why – perhaps just to give us fresh impetus. Maybe if we’d stayed in the same hotel it might have brought back bad memories.”

The match will not live long in the memory for the 435 away fans who made the second journey.

Millwall emerged with a point but did not have a shot – either on or off target. But they did extend their unbeaten run to six matches, five of those victories.

“We got back into the dressing room and I was sat next to Jed Wallace – he often checks the stats on Sky Sports’ website,” said Mitchell, 20. “He showed me and George Saville that we’d had no shots on target.

“It’s poor and we need to do better than that. But we’ve still been resolute enough not to concede. In some senses that shows our togetherness.

“Blackburn did have a couple of really good chances and perhaps could have put a few past us. But, in general, everyone put in such a good shift we probably deserved to come away with a point.

“Blackburn moved the ball quite well and I was impressed with some of their forward players’ movement – John Buckley created quite a few chances for them.

“Towards the end we maybe gave away a few more set-pieces and corners than we would’ve liked. It felt like we were almost doing our best to gift them opportunities to put the ball in the box but such is our form at the moment, I never really felt like we were going to concede.

“I’ve been on the pitch before and you can feel that momentum swing – you’re almost waiting for the net to ripple. I didn’t get that feeling.

“Everyone was a bit frustrated coming in at half-time because we felt we hadn’t played anywhere near our capability. But we said: ‘We’re away from home, we’ve had a long journey and games back to back in quick succession – it’s still 0-0 and we only need one goal to win this. At the very least we come away with a point’.”

In terms of workload, Mitchell has probably chained together more minutes than any other outfield player in recent months.

The academy product has started the last 23 matches, including the FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace, and finished all but two of them.
It throws up the question of balancing training loads with being in maximum condition for games.

“The staff are quite good at looking after us,” said Mitchell. “For example, we always have a day off after a game.

“Matchday plus-two, so the day we go back in, training will be slightly curbed. We’ll do the warm-up, some form of technical passing drill or perhaps small possession and generally that will be it for the people who started. Those who didn’t might do a little bit extra work.

“We’ve got quite a few players hopefully coming back from injury in the next few weeks, that should boost numbers – it might allow for a bit more rotation.

“Because so many are out it means we can’t rotate and those who are having to bash out games week in and week out are probably at more risk of injury. We went into the pool on Thursday at Nuffield [Health], that’s a first for me at Millwall, to do a bit of recovery.

“The games are rolling on thick and fast with Boro on Saturday and then Huddersfield next Wednesday. If we can manage to get through to the next international break [after playing Stoke on March 19] we should have a ton of players coming back. If we can claw some points out in the meantime it will stand us in pretty good stead.”

Mitchell is on 35 appearances in all competitions this season – easily his most productive one yet since breaking into the first-team picture in May 2019.

A serious hamstring injury, including a setback as he closed in on a comeback, curtailed him to just 16 matches in the campaign before.

He describes it as “very individual” in terms of what extras players do after matches.

“Some lads go to quite extreme lengths and the two that come to mind are Bart Bialkowski and Scott Malone,” said Mitchell. “They always jump on the recovery pumps and recovery tights. Bart even uses some kind of magnesium spray to alleviate soreness.

“A lot of the lads, Jake Cooper being one, jump in the ice baths after the game.

“I have a pair of recovery tights I stick on. But, for me, I think it is the basics – try and get as much sleep as possible, that’s the biggest one, eat right and then hydrating again. If I nail those three, all the rest maybe give you an extra per cent but are neither here nor there.

“The recovery pumps almost make you look like the Michelin Man. You velcro them over your legs, all the way down, and they attach to a machine which inflates in stages. The idea, I think, it that it compresses one part of your leg and helps the bloodflow and circulation.

“Sometimes if you believe in what you’re doing it can almost be that placebo effect. If you don’t buy into something then you’re probably not going to get the benefit.

“If we have a quick turnaround, like a Saturday to Tuesday, we often do a Zoom session with the sports scientist which will be a little bit of foam-rolling and stretching. All the starters or ones who have played more than a certain amount of minutes have to jump on that.”

The next two fixtures in SE16 represent a chance to cut the gap on clubs above the Lions.

“We’re not worrying too much where it can take us because you can only deal with one game at a time,” said Mitchell, who grew up a Millwall fan.

“That’s why the point the other night was so important – because it is about momentum.

“Now we’re back at home for two games, not much travelling and having more fans behind us – they should be bigger crowds because of how we’re doing at the moment – will be really beneficial.”

Mitchell was 16 the last time Millwall were in the play-offs in 2017, Steve Morison netting the winner against Bradford City.

“I watched it on TV and remember going mental in the living room,” he said. “I also remember Moro heading it back across for Gregs[Lee Gregory]  to put the ball in at Scunthorpe [in the semi-final second leg].”

A crowd of around 16,000 is expected for the visit of Boro, with hope growing of a fresh promotion challenge.

Mitchell said: “It [the Sheffield United game] almost felt like it was in the FA Cup, that little extra noise. I’m assuming it will be the same for the next couple.

“That generally only works in a positive way for us.”