‘I’m sure he has been frustrated’ – Millwall boss praises defender after performance at West Brom
Neil Harris had plenty of praise for Danny McNamara after Millwall’s 0-0 draw at West Brom on Saturday afternoon.
McNamara made his first league start of the season as the Lions secured their third consecutive 0-0 draw in the Black Country following a rigid defensive display.
The Baggies despite had almost 80 per cent possession but failed to break down Harris’ side with Lukas Jensen rarely tested.
Asked if the defender has been frustrated sitting on the bench, Harris said, “I’m sure he has.
“He is a professional football player that gets paid to play. He works extremely hard during the week and I’m sure he’d love to play on a Saturday afternoon. I’d say that would be the same for all the players who aren’t playing – you go to work all week and you want to perform on a Saturday.
“Danny has had to be extremely patient because Lenny and Joe have been very, very good us for this year.
“Joe had been a bit under the weather. I just thought with three games in a week that Danny would be the best option for today, especially to deal with Tom Fellows. Danny is an exceptional one-v-one defender.
“Joe’s got different qualities. He’s a very good defender, he’s played at the top level and he’s exceptional with the ball. I felt today we weren’t going to have a lot of the ball and to deal with Fellows, Wallace or Diangana – or the countless players they’ve got with quality – that Danny would be a very good option. I only took him off because he cramped up at the end.”
Femi Azeez also made his first league start of the season at The Hawthorns with Harris explaining that he, like Mihalio Ivanovic are adapting to Championship level football.
“Femi is making his way back to Championship level, he’s played at the level before, ” said Harris. “He was a very young man at the time, I think he was 19.
“He’s dropped down in the last couple of years to play in League One in a different style to us, so he has to adapt his game too. Femi has got some real qualities, we see that every day in training, he showed today some qualities which makes me think he can be a real success in a Millwall shirt.”