Jed Wallace: It’s a shame Millwall fans weren’t there for me to celebrate with after free-kick goal

BY DANIEL MARSH

Jed Wallace shared his delight after netting another stunning free-kick on Wednesday night – but admitted that it was a “shame” that there were no fans in attendance to see it in person.

Wallace found the net for the fifth time this term with an outrageous 25-yard free-kick which he whipped into the top left-hand corner of the goal, leaving the Reading keeper rooted to the spot.

Unfortunately for the Lions, it was cancelled out eight minutes into the second half by Lucas Joao to ensure Reading left SE16 with a share of the points.

“It was good. I’ve gone a few games without a goal, I did that last season, going 10/15 games without a goal. I promised myself at the start of the year that I’d try not to do that this year. It’s funny, the lads were talking in the warm-up that we haven’t really had many shooting free-kicks this season. I think Scott Malone had one at Rotherham and I had one at Sheffield Wednesday which was quite far out. We got it – I was expecting Troy [Parrott] to be nagging me to take it! Luckily, he let me take it. As it was in the air, I thought it might hit the bar and it just dropped last minute and went in.

“It was a good feeling, but it’s a shame there were no supporters to see it really, it would have been a nice moment if we’d have had 13,000 or 14,000 in here. Ultimately though we’re disappointed that we probably drew another game that we should win.

“There’s games where we draw and you come away a bit flat like Norwich where we didn’t get going and individually I don’t play well. I think games like tonight, it’s a positive draw. We’re creating chances and playing well. They scored a goal out of nothing – they didn’t really create much else and we probably should win. Hopefully being a bit more clinical and with a little bit more quality from myself and a couple of others and we’ll start turning these draws into wins.”

With the potential return of fans on the horizon, Wallace was quick to talk up just how much of a difference their presence could make, especially in games like Wednesday night’s draw with Reading where the Lions were pegged back after leading.

“It’s probably been a bit of a factor. In my time at Millwall, we’ve probably won so many games here 1-0. Naturally the other team is going to have a spell and at times when we’ve been 1-0 up the fans get behind us and it gives you a bit of a lift, but we’ve not had that.

“It’s been a shockingly bad year, really. Sometimes I just sort of sit and I see everyone walking around in masks and I forget what a mad time it’s been. I’m hoping that this might be our last game with no fans – even if we have 2,000, 3,000 or 4,000 in here that would be amazing. It’d be amazing for everyone, for the fans themselves to get back into the building, for us as players to get that little bit of a lift. I’m just hoping we can turn a corner with it and 2021 can be a bit more positive. It’s more those moments where you score a goal – especially when it’s a good one like tonight – where you want the fans and your family to be there really.”

Photos: Brian Tonks