Millwall midfielder Mitchell reveals how his “strange” goal celebration came about

BY KAI BENNETT

Billy Mitchell has explained his goal celebration in Saturday’s 4-1 thrashing of Bristol City.

The Lions midfielder, 20, recently penned a contract extension and got on the scoresheet for the first time at senior level in an emphatic victory at The Den.

Mitchell performed push ups after netting and told the club’s official website: “It’s a strange one. I cant remember how it started but when I was injured I was speaking to Fergie and Matt Smith in the gym and they said to me: ‘What are you going to do when you score your first goal?’ They said to do something wacky and we ended up agreeing on push ups.

“”I’m absolutely delighted to score my first goal for the club, I feel like I’ve had quite a few good opportunities to score and I haven’t converted any. To get one, early on in my career is pleasing, hopefully it’s the first of many.

“It was a good performance from the boys.

“Now that we know we’re safe and not challenging for the play offs anymore, you still want to finish as high up the table as possible.

“It was nice to get back to winning ways, the last few weeks have been tough but overall we can be happy with that.

“The second half of the season [after returning from a major hamstring injury] has been really good for me. I feel like I’ve played pretty well, there have been some performances in the last few games that I haven’t been pleased with, so I wanted to put that right today.

“I want to finish the season strongly next week against Coventry, then head into the summer with a lot more experience and come back firing on all cylinders.

“I’ve said before that this club is the place to be. I’m sure there may be some changes in the summer but when we come back next year, we are going to set our sights on that top six, and we’ll play our hearts out.”