Leeds loanee impressed by Millwall’s resolve as they bounced back from QPR loss to defeat Blackpool

Jamie Shackleton was delighted that Millwall “reacted well” from losing to QPR to beat Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions earned their fourth victory of the Championship campaign with goals from Zian Flemming and Benik Afobe cancelling out a Charlie Patino equaliser in the first half.

Now Shackleton is looking to keep the momentum going by chalking up another three points against Blackburn Rovers after the international break.

Shackleton said: “It was disappointing on Wednesday to lose the game [to QPR] but we reacted well and showed a lot of character today [Saturday] to get the three points.

“We definitely needed it. It lifts the mood around the place now. We’ve got a bit of a gap between games and we go into the next game positively and hopefully we can pick up another three points.”

Shackleton started at right wing-back against Blackpool before shifting into central midfielder following the introduction of Danny McNamara.

He said: “I enjoy playing both positions. It’s not a case of I prefer one to the other or that I don’t enjoy playing at right-back. I’ve played more games there last season at right-back.”

The 22-year-old has made 10 appearances for the Lions, nine of those starts.

Shackleton said: “That’s one of the big reasons I came on loan – to put a good run of games together and pick up a nice bit of form. That’s been something that has been hard to come by in the past couple of years at Leeds. That’s the aim and hopefully we can continue that.”

His Leeds United team-mate Ian Poveda came on in the second half for Blackpool.

Shackleton said: “Ian is a pretty tricky player, he didn’t get many chances to get on the ball and run at us, which is good, we stopped that well. But it was nice to see him, I was pretty close to him when I was at Leeds. I wish him all the best for the season.”